Worth Something
by TMNTfan1
Summary: This was originally a short story, but kept expanding until it's more of a series, not quite a chapter book. It's about my character Amber and how she grows from a shy, insecure girl to a brave young woman who knows she's worth something, thanks to a particular friendly, redheaded prankster.
1. Chapter 1

**First Year**

My palms were sweaty as I followed the bustling, nervous crowd of my fellow first years after Professor McGonagall. We entered the Great Hall, and all the boisterous talking from all the other students quieted to a low murmur as they all turned to watch our entrance, pointing out certain first years and whispering amongst their friends.

I could easily make out the colors above each separate table that separated the houses. Slytherin, Gryfindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. By the end of the evening, I would be sitting with one of these houses. Great, now I've got a nervous stomach.

McGonagall lead us all to the front of the room to stand before a hat on a stool. Even though I knew what to expect, I was still mildly freaked out when a particular rip in the hat opened into a mouth.

After several first years were called and sorted into their houses, I heard my name called by the Professor.

"Carter, Amber."

Taking a deep breath, I pushed my way through the crowd in front of me, trying to ignore everyone's eyes burning into the back of my head. I made sure to watch my step, because it would of course be me that would trip on front of all of Hogwarts on my first day. But, thankfully, I made it to the stool without any problems.

The hat was placed on my head and immediately began to speak in my head. _"Hm. Very interesting. You're a tough one, aren't you. Rather shy and quiet on the outside, friendly, an obvious Hufflepuff trait. However, I sense a strong sense of loyalty underneath, yes, very difficult…"_

While the hat continued to mumble under his breath, my thoughts wandered thoughtfully over which house I'd be placed in. I doubt I'd be placed in Ravenclaw, I wasn't _that_ smart. And I most certainly wouldn't be placed in Slytherin. After all, I'm a half-blood. My mother is a Half-Blood witch who went to Hogwarts when she was young, however my father's a Muggle.

I jumped when the hat suddenly shouted, "Ah! I know. GRYFINDOR!"

Several cheers erupted from the other students as I practically sagged in relief when the hat was removed from my head. I climbed down from the stool and quickly made my way to the nearest table with Gryffindor's red and gold colors. I sat in the first empty seat, next to a rather tall redhead who greeted me with a friendly smile.

After the rest of the first years were sorted, Professor Dumbledore told us to dig in and magically made a feast worthy of royalty appear on our tables. I helped myself to some turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans before someone actually spoke to me.

"So, how's it feel being sorted into the best house in Hogwarts?" a redhead who sat across from the redhead beside me asked. I paused and looked between the two boys, wondering if I was hallucinating. It was the same person. Wait-oh, duh. They were obviously twins.

"Um, pretty good, I guess. I was expecting to probably be placed in Hufflepuff, but I'm glad to be in Gryffindor." I answered quietly, I was surprised they even heard me.

"Yeah, you seem a bit on the shy side." the boy next to me pointed out bluntly. "Any-who, I'm George."

"And I'm Fred." his brother cut in, not missing a beat as George shook my hand. As soon as I released George's hand Fred offered me his.

"We're second years." they said in perfect unison.

"I'm Amber." I answered with a small smile, feeling my face heat up a bit at the attention. My pale, peachy skin did nothing to help conceal the rosy tint in my cheeks, so I slightly ducked my head, hoping my wavy, dark brown hair would help a bit.

We didn't talk much after that, as the twins turned to talk to a boy with dreadlocks, who I thought I heard called 'Lee'. The other kids in my year kept to their own little clicks, talking with people they'd already met on the train or who they were already friends with, leaving me to eat in silence. But I was content to be left to my own thoughts.

 **Second Year**

Nothing eventful really happened during my first year in Hogwarts, although one of the first mail days I received a shock. A Little Owl had plopped right down next to my plate with a tiny note in her beak. It said,

' _Amber, here's your present to celebrate your first year at Hogwarts. Use her to send us lots of letters to tell us how you're doing. Love, Mom and Dad'_

My parents had gotten me my own owl. She was about 8 inches tall, dark brown with white speckles all over her body, and big, pale green eyes, and a sweet, friendly disposition. I fell in love with her almost instantly. Being such a creative person, I ended up calling her 'tiny' so many times that it just sort of became her name. Tiny. And besides being my pet and messenger, she became my best friend.

Anyway, that was basically the only thing of real interest that happened my first year.

My second year, however, is so far shaping up to be at least a _bit_ more eventful. Just the first day we all found out that _The_ Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, would be attending his first year at Hogwarts. And he was sorted into Gryffindor, along with a handful of other kids, including the twins' younger brother Ron. I didn't get to officially meet him, but I did see him. He looked so adorably in awe of everything, but I suppose all of us were like that our first day.

It was about two weeks into the year, and I was walking down a corridor heading to lunch, sort of following the small crowd, but being apart from it at the same time.

Suddenly a wet, cold feeling chilled me to the bones as something splashed over my head. I froze and I heard everyone in the hallway freeze, as well. Before laughter erupted from all directions.

Slowly, I looked down at myself. Some green liquid with the consistency of water was running down my body. It wasn't sticking to me at all, but it seemed to stain everything it touched. My clothes, my hair, my skin…

A couple particularly loud laughs drew my attention to several meters ahead of me.

There, standing side-by-side, covering their mouths to stifle their laughter, was a pair of identical redheads that I'd really only talked to a dozen times since we met. Around them were several others who were looking at me and laughing as well. I glanced around, feeling my chest sting and my eyes burn. I couldn't swallow past the lump in my throat. Laughter, cruel and cold echoed in my head, making everything spin.

Finally, it registered in my brain that I had to move. To run. And I did. I shoved my way through the crowd and ran. I ran until I found myself in the girl's bathroom. I was alone, and my legs couldn't keep me up any longer. I fell to my knees and pressed myself as far into the corner as I could, the stone floor and wall stinging my warm skin.

I hugged my legs to my chest, hiding my face in my knees as sobs racked my body. I'm not sure how long I was there, but it only seemed like a few moments before I heard the door to the bathroom slowly swing open, followed by a pair of footsteps. I clutched my knees tighter to my chest, trying to hide myself in the corner and suppress my sobs.

The footsteps kept approaching me until I heard them stop. It was silent for several moments before a warm hand hesitantly touched my shoulder. I flinched and bit my lip, trying to keep myself from sobbing all over again.

"Amber?" a quiet, hesitant voice spoke my name, and I stiffened. Tilting my head, I just barely peaked out from behind the curtain of wet, very dark brownish green hair. Knelt down before me, with identical worried expressions, were the same two redheaded third years that had been laughing at me not too long ago, probably the ones who set up the prank to begin with.

I buried my face back in my knees, not wanting to look at them. "What do you want?" I mumbled angrily into my lap.

"We just wanted to check that you were alright." the other twin answered. I'm not sure how I could tell their voices apart, even though I had no idea which one was speaking and which one wasn't.

"I'm fine, now leave me alone." I mumbled a bit louder, to make sure they heard me.

"Amber, we're really sorry. It wasn't you we were aiming for."

Confused, I hesitantly peaked out at them. "What do you mean?"

"We were aiming for those bloody Slytherin first years who were behind you." one twin, I think it was George, answered, anger briefly flashing in his brown eyes.

"Why?" I asked, not realizing I'd completely lifted my head from my knees.

The twins exchanged a glance before they moved to sit against the wall on either side of me, so I was in the corner, George was against one wall to my left, and Fred was against the perpendicular wall on my right.

Fred: "Well, see this is what happened-"

George: "On the first day, before the first years had entered the Great Hall for sorting-"

Fred: "The little git, Draco Malfoy made a rather insulting comment to our brother Ron-"

George: "Something along the lines of, "Red hair, hand-me-down clothes, you must be a Weasely',"

I felt anger fill my body at that comment, but the twins were continuing to talk, making me look back and forth like a Muggle game of Ping-Pong.

Fred: "And, well, we don't take kindly to people insulting our family,"

George: "Well, except Percy. He's a git anyway."

Fred: "So we thought we'd get a little payback,"

George: "But you aren't normally walking that corridor, especially not in front of those blokes,"

"So, we accidentally hit you instead." Fred concluded, both twins watching me for my reaction.

I nodded slowly, taking in the information and trying to decide which question I'd like to ask first.

"So, why'd you come after me?" I asked hesitantly, looking over at Fred.

Fred looked a bit sheepish and remorseful. "Well, we may like to joke around, and prank people, but we draw the line at hurting innocent people. Hurting those slimy Slytherins is one thing, but you didn't deserve it. And we really are sorry about that."

Seeing how sorry and upset both twins looked, I couldn't help but forgive them. "It's okay. I forgive you guys." they looked relieved so I asked my next question, "How'd you guys find me?"

I saw the twins exchange a sheepish look before George answered rather awkwardly, "Well, um, you, uh, left a bit of a trail." he nodded toward the door and only then did I notice the sloppy green footprints leading up to me.

Looking down at myself I realized I'd temporarily forgotten that I was completely green. Great. How was this going to work?

"Okay, so, next question: How long am I going to be like this?" I asked, looking back at Fred.

He grimaced and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, you see, we kind of designed the stuff to last about…a month." he finished quietly. My eyes widened.

"A month? I'm going to be green for a _month_?!" I frantically looked down at my hands, using my left thumb to try and scrub the green from the back of my right hand, but it was like it was my natural skin color. It wouldn't come off.

A small vile filled with light purple liquid appeared in front of my face. Following the hand it was attached to, I met Fred's eyes.

"Here. We invented a sort of antidote, just in case." he murmured gently. I slowly took the vile from him, glancing between him and the bottle.

"How do I know this isn't another prank?" I asked hesitantly.

George was the one who answered. "Did you not hear a thing we just said?" I looked over at him, and he looked visibly upset. "We don't prank people to hurt them. We do it to make people laugh. And you weren't laughing. Bloody hell, we made you cry! Do you really think we'd be that cruel?"

I bit my lip and looked down guiltily. He was right, now I felt bad for questioning them. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." Fred argued, glancing at his brother before looking down at me. "You have good reason to question our motives, after what we did. But I promise you this isn't a prank. We just want to try and make up for what we did. So, when you shower later, use that as a sort of shampoo and body wash, and just lather, rinse, and repeat a couple times and you should be good."

I looked down at the bottle cradled in my hands and smiled up at Fred. Then, a thought popped into my head. I leaned forward to grab my books, which one of the twins must have picked up and brought here because I'm pretty sure I dropped them in the hallway. I grabbed one of my text books and a piece of parchment. I could feel the twins' curious eyes on me as I found the spell I was looking for, wrote it down in the parchment, and handed it to Fred.

"I learned about this spell in class the other day. If you point your wand at Malfoy's plate at some meal time whenever you fancy, and mutter those words," I pointed at the paper I'd handed him, "it'll make his food explode all over his face, and maybe even the people around him." I finished with a small, satisfied smile.

Fred's smile grew into an excited, yet mischievous grin as he and George exchanged similar expressions.

"Bloody brilliant, Amber!" George exclaimed, pulling me into a one-armed hug.

"Thanks, Amber." Fred added when his brother let me go.

"No problem." I shrugged. "That slimy little git's got it coming."

 **OoOoOoO**

 **This originally started out as a short story, but then all these ideas started popping into my head of moments to build up Fred and Amber's relationship, next thing I know, it's a cross between a short story and a chapter book.**

 **Every other chapter is going to focus on a particular year, but this chapter would've been a lot shorter than the others if I did that, so this is both first and second year.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Fifth Year**

I followed the large crowd of students through the big double doors into the Great Hall. My eyes traveled down the long table that already seated several Gryffindor students, until my eyes finally spotted two identical heads of red hair.

Ever since that day in the girl's bathroom my second year, the twins and I have gotten much closer; in fact, I think they may be my only real friends. I mean, there are other students in my other classes that I'd talk to or partner with for projects, but there just wasn't anyone who ever offered their friendship to me, and I wasn't exactly the kind of person to step up and make friends myself. I get along with the twins' friends, but they all have their own friends in the group.

Sidestepping some giggling Hufflepuff third years, I took a seat next to Fred, George on his other side.

"Hey! Amber!" Fred shouted happily at the sight of me, pulling me into a tight, one-armed hug.

George leaned his elbows forward on the table to peer around his twin. "So, how's it feel to be a fifth year?"

"Pretty good, I suppose. How's it feel to be sixth years?" I asked back, looking between the two. I noticed they'd grown their hair out, the soft, smooth, light orange locks covering their ears, catching the light from the candles above. Fred had parted his hair over his right eye, while George's was close to the middle of his head, so Fred's had a slight wave to it, while George's wasn't as wavy.

"Brilliant." they answered in unison before Fred picked up a lock of my hair.

"Your hair looks different." he noted.

"I could say the same to you." I retorted, reaching up to ruffle his hair. I also noticed I had to stretch up a bit more in order to reach. They must have had a growth spurt. My own dark brown hair had been trimmed over the summer, and I'd had a couple layers added in so it wouldn't seem so thick. This also seemed to enhance my waves, so they were more noticeable.

"Tell me about it." a familiar voice brought my attention to a few seats down across the table from me, where a pretty third year girl with long, dark red hair was sitting. "It's gotten so bad, Mum's threatening to enchant a pair of scissors to cut their hair while they're asleep."

"Shut up Ginny!" both twins exclaimed, making me lean away as several students turned in our direction.

"At least we can pull it off and still be the most handsome blokes around. Ronnikins on the other hand…" George trailed off while the rest of us burst out laughing at the glare Ron was sending his brother's way. Ron's hair had grown out a bit, too.

After a while, Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall with yet another group of jumpy first years ready to be sorted.

While the hat was sorting the first couple first years, Fred and George were making bets on whether or not a particularly edgy first year boy was either going to faint or throw up.

Finally, after everyone had been seated and we ate our fill of the feast, Dumbledore stood up to speak.

He announced that this year there would be no Quidditch, which several students loudly voiced their dislike, including the twins. However, they quieted almost instantly when Dumbledore explained the reasons behind this. He announced that in place of Quidditch Hogwarts would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament, inviting the two other schools; Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. One student from each school would be chosen to compete in the tournament for a prize of eternal glory and money, which instantly got Fred and George's attention. I knew they were more interested in the money because they were saving up to open their own business. In fact, several students were on the edge of their seats. However, several students voiced their outrage when Dumbledore announced an age limit of seventeen and that no one younger would be allowed to enter. Once again, the twins lead this cry of protest.

I had absolutely no interest in this Tournament. But from the excited, mischievous whispers the twins were exchanging later in the evening, I knew they would stop at nothing to try and get their names into the Tournament.

~*0*~

I stormed angrily down the corridor towards the Hospital Wing, my black Hogwarts robe flying behind me like a cape. I had entered the Great Hall not too long ago to grab a bite to eat, when some whispering second years nearby informed me that Fred and George had taken an Aging Potion to try and trick the age line and enter their names into the Goblet of Fire. Now they were in the Hospital Wing to be treated.

I rounded the corner and stopped dead at the sight before me. There were several students sitting on beds with long, shaggy gray hair and beards. I almost couldn't tell who was who with most of their faces being concealed, however when my eyes met with a pair of familiar brown eyes, I stormed over to where the twins were sitting.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you two?" I demanded quietly, backhanding the nearest twin's shoulder.

"Ow! What?" Fred demanded, clutching his injured shoulder with his opposite hand.

"Trying to trick the Age line so you could enter that bloody contest? Did you not hear that people have died?" I hissed angrily.

The twins exchanged a look that I couldn't see before George spoke, "We need the money, Amber. And if we entered the Tournament-"

"Do you have any idea what the odds are of you winning, even if you did enter? There'll be two other competitors, and how do you know those Durmstrang students are going to play fair?"

"You're blowing this way out of proportion, Ber," Fred started, using the weird nickname for me he'd come up with sometime the previous year, "I mean, Dumbledore wasn't even that mad, why are you flipping out?"

"Maybe because Dumbledore finds your stupidity amusing, and maybe because _he_ wouldn't be effected if one of you morons was killed!" I barely kept from shouting.

The twins stared at me with wide eyes and suddenly, I couldn't stand there and be stared at. I could feel my walls crumbling and I needed to be alone.

So, I turned and stormed out of the Hospital Wing, headed for the Gryffindor Common Room. I was barely keeping my emotions in check when the Fat Lady asked for the password, and by the time I entered the Common Room, tears were falling from my eyes. The room was empty, most students were probably eating down in the Great Hall. So, I curled up in the corner of the big sofa in front of the fireplace, and simply let the tears fall.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there before I heard the portrait open. I pulled a blanket over my head and snuggled down into the sofa, hoping whoever it was would think I was sleeping. The footsteps approached the sofa and the person sat down next to me, and when I felt a hand on my shoulder I felt a sense of déjà vu. I knew it was one of the twins.

"Amber?" Fred's voice was muffled by the blanket, but I knew it was him. "Amber, come on, I know you're not sleeping." when I didn't respond, he pulled the blanket off me without any difficulty.

His beard was gone and his hair was back to bright orange. As soon as he saw my face, his own face softened, his eyes sad. He slipped his hand under my shoulder blades to grip my opposite shoulder, gently but firmly hoisting me up to lean against him, wrapping his arms around my body.

He rested his chin on my head while I didn't even try to stop myself from pressing my face into his chest, breathing in his warm, familiar smell.

"So, what was that all about back there, eh?" his voice was quiet.

I couldn't speak past the lump in my throat, so I shrugged.

"Amber, please? Why'd you get so upset over something as stupid as an Aging Potion?" Fred asked pleadingly.

Finally swallowing, I whispered, "It wasn't the Aging Potion I was upset about."

"Then what was it?"

Looking up at him, I asked, "Don't you get it?" seeing his confused face I continued, "You could die. If you or George successfully entered the Tournament there's a chance you could die."

Fred sighed. "There's always a chance of dying in anything people do. This isn't as dangerous as everyone's making it-"

"What would you do if George was chosen to compete in the Tournament, and was killed during one of the tasks?" Fred's face dropped, looking a mix of thoughtful, pained, and scared. I knew it was low, putting it that way, but I had to make Fred understand what he and his brother wanted so badly to get into.

Fred was silent for several moments, his eyes clouded over in thought. Finally, his eyes cleared and he cleared his throat to speak. "Why is it such a big deal to _you_?" he asked quietly, his eyes now searching mine for an answer.

I looked down, wondering how to put it. Finally, I settled for, "I can't lose you two."

"Why?"

My eyes flashed up to his. "Is it really so surprising that I don't want you both to die?" I demanded.

"No, but it just sounds like you're leaving something out." Fred explained.

I bit my lip, wondering how much to tell him. "Well, no one close to me has ever died, but…I have lost people I cared about."

"How can you lose someone, but they didn't die?" Fred asked in confusion.

I looked up, my eyes sad when they met his, "They abandoned me." I answered simply. Fred's face dropped to horror.

"Your parents?!"

"No! No, no, no, no. Not my parents." I answered hurriedly, shaking my head. "No, it…It was my friends. When I was younger I had a handful of Muggle friends, since I grew up in a Muggle neighborhood because of my dad. Then, when I was eleven years old, I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts. I told my friends I wouldn't be seeing them much during the school year because I was going to a private school. Well, they didn't take it too well. They thought I was leaving them to be a stuck up, spoiled girl in a private school. I haven't spoken to any of them since." I finished quietly, looking down at my lap.

"Well that sucks. They just stopped being your friends because of that?" I nodded. "But, what does that have to do with the Tournament?"

"Because, if one of you entered and died, I'd being losing one of the best friends I've ever had." I whispered quietly, my eyes fixed on my lap.

Fred was quiet and still for a while before his arm that was still around my shoulders tightened, pulling me close against his side.

"We're not going anywhere, Ber. I promise."

I smiled, but then realized something. Fred was so set on finding out my reasons for being against the Tournament, but I hadn't bothered to wonder why it was so important to him and George. I knew the basics, but maybe there was more to it.

"Fred, why is it so important for you guys to enter?" I asked quietly, leaning my head on his shoulder.

I felt his shoulder and chest lift as he took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Well, a couple reasons, actually. Obviously, me and George need the money to start up our shop. But aside from that…I guess we just want to try and bring glory to the Weasley name."

I looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Fred gave me a look like I was stupid or something. "Come on, Ber, it should be obvious. Everyone takes one look at one of us, with our red hair, and labels us off as a Weasley; poor, worthless, blood-traitors."

"But you're none of that!" I exclaimed desperately, sitting up a bit to get a better look at his face. Had they really begun to believe all the crap people like the Malfoys were saying about them?

"I know that." Fred sat up straighter and turned to sit sideways to face me. "Now I want to show everyone else that, too. The Tournament could be mine and George's chance to show everyone in the Wizarding world that the Weasley's are more than poor redheaded blood-traitors."

I stared up at him, my jaw hanging open. I had to think for several moments to collect my thoughts before I spoke again. "Well, you and George have been selling your pranks around Hogwarts for months now, and word has been getting around about your products. You said so yourself the other day that business has been picking up."

"Well, yeah."

"So, why don't you guys just keep that up for a while, and maybe by the time you're out of Hogwarts you'll have enough money to buy at least a small place to start your store."

Fred nodded with a shrug, "Yeah that's probably what we're going to have to do. But our Mum and Dad really want us to get some stupid job in the Ministry, like Percy." I could tell by the grimace on his face that the idea didn't appeal to him. I couldn't see him or George doing something in a dress robe in an office like that, either. Following strict rules and enforcing them? Gross.

"Well, think about it, Fred. You're guys' business is already super popular, and that's so far only in Hogwarts. Once word gets out about you, you could be getting orders from people in different countries and continents. Everyone needs a good laugh now and then. And don't you think bringing smiles to people would be enough to bring some kind of glory to the Weasley name?"

Fred stared at me for a long moment, slowly blinking once before a large smile spread across his face. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. That's exactly the point in our business, and we can prove to everyone that we can make something of ourselves."

I smiled at him. "Exactly."

Fred's eyes softened a bit and his huge grin shrunk to a gentle smile. "Thanks, Amber. That means a lot."

"No problem."

~*0*~

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception." Professor McGonagall spoke as she paced the Great Hall, glancing at Filch as he tried to get a large phonograph to work. All the tables had been pushed to the sides of the Hall, and Gryffindor students were seated on the long benches along the sides, girls on one side and boys on the other. "On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity."

 _'Well that rules out most of the guys in this school,'_ I thought jokingly, trying to stop myself from grinning.

"As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward. And I mean this literally because the Yule Ball is, first and foremost, a dance."

Immediately girls started leaning forward to whisper excitedly amongst themselves while the guys across the Hall groaned and slouched further into their seats. My reaction was neither of the kind, but I silently shared the guys' opinions.

"Silence." McGonagall's voice echoed in the Hall until everyone quieted and returned their attention to her.

"The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the Wizard World for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you, in the course of a single evening besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons."

I bit my lips together to keep myself from laughing. Looking across the Hall, where the twins were standing against the wall, I saw George lean in to whisper something to Fred, an amused smirk on his face. Then Fred turned to him and both began mumbling something under their breath. I could easily imagine they were trying to repeat McGonagall's words.

"Now, to dance, is to let the body breathe." McGonagall flourished her hands before turning to the girls' side, "Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight." she looked over her shoulder to continue, "Inside every boy a lordly lion prepares to prance. Mr. Weasley." she turned and approached Ron, who had been whispering with his friends.

"Yes?" he grumbled, his smirk immediately falling to a grimace as their Head of House approaches him.

She holds her hand out to him. "Will you join me please?"

Several snickers sound from the guys' side, mainly from Ron's friends and brothers. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile. I just _knew_ this was going to be good.

McGonagall lead Ron to the center of the room saying, "Now, place your right hand on my waist."

" _Where?_ " Ron asked quietly, looking disturbed.

"My waist." she repeated patiently, moving her own hands into the position for a dance.

George let out a loud wolf whistle, making his younger brother throw him a glare.

Filch turned on the phonograph, which started playing classical music. McGonagall started counting off as she lead Ron around the floor.

Of course, I chose that moment to glance at the twins, and I found them swaying against the wall with huge, silly smiles on their faces. I burst out laughing before quickly slapping my hand on my mouth. Angelina Johnson, who was sitting next to me, looked at me in confusion, but I simply pointed across the Hall at the twins. She, too, had to cover her mouth.

"Everybody come together!" McGonagall urged. All the girls instantly stood, and I followed reluctantly. "Boys, on your feet." the guys groaned and stayed seated, acting like they couldn't hear her.

To my surprise, the first boy to get up the nerve was Neville Longbottom. He looked overly nervous, but he actually got up and approached a girl I didn't recognize, asked her to dance, and lead her around the dance floor.

One by one, other boys followed his example. After over half the girls had been escorted to dance, most of which the girls who had been seated around me, I decided to sit back down. No need to embarrass myself anymore than necessary by being the last one standing.

I sat with my arms crossed on my lap, looking down at my feet, trying not to let the bitter disappointment eat away at me. I should've expected it, honestly. Why would any of the guys want to dance with me when there were so many other girls they could dance with?

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a pair of shoes appearing before me. I looked up to see a familiar redhead, holding his hand out to me.

"George?" I asked quietly, confused as to why he was standing in front of me.

"You look lonely, and if I must torture myself by dancing, I may as well torture you, too." he explained with a smirk. I smiled gratefully, taking his hand and letting him lead me to an open space.

It was a bit awkward as first as we both tried to figure out where and when to move our feet. My toes got stepped on quite a few times before we got the hang of it. But we laughed pretty much the whole time. There was nothing socially awkward about it, nothing romantic, it was just two friends having a fun time.

~*0*~

With a small smile to George, I took the empty seat between him and Katie Bell at the Gryffindor breakfast table. Everyone was talking and laughing among themselves, the girls talking about what they were wearing for the Yule Ball coming up, and the boys debating on who they thought would win the second task of the Tournament coming up. Many were caught between Harry and Cedric, though a couple thought Viktor Krum had a good chance.

I glanced up and did a double take when something caught my eye. A random boy, who look about seventeen, had approached a girl at the Ravenclaw table across the hall. Judging by his nervous hand gestures and the girl's bright red face and shy smile, the boy was probably asking her to the Yule Ball. A sharp pain yanked at my gut as the boy walked away, leaving the girl with her giggling friends.

Suddenly finding it hard to swallow, I abandoned my small plate of eggs, grabbed an apple and my book bag at my feet and silently left the Great Hall.

I fast walked down the corridors until the crisp, fall breeze stung my face and filled my lungs, instantly clearing away the lump in my throat. Carefully, I laid my bag on one of the stone walls between the pillars that separated the inside of the castle from the courtyard. Placing the apple in my mouth, I climbed up onto the short wall and sat with my back leaned against the pillar behind me.

I stared blankly out at the frost-coated grass in the courtyard, slowly eating my apple, even though it sat heavy in my stomach. I knew I'd be starving later if I didn't eat something. Damn high metabolism.

I was almost done with the crisp, tart fruit when I heard the tell-tale slaps of footsteps against stone. I ignored whoever it was, thinking they'd just continue on their way and leave me in peace. However, the person stopped and I felt more than saw the person lean their elbows forward on the wall near my feet. The flash of ginger told me exactly who it was.

"That gonna keep you full 'til lunch, then?" a familiar English-accented voice asked, confirming my thoughts.

"Go away, Fred. I have a headache that I'm hoping will go away before class." I whispered, not taking my eyes from the courtyard.

"Well, that's rude. I've been called many things, but not a headache." Fred quipped, his tone light and teasing. Normally it would've made me laugh, or at least give a huge smile, but all I could muster was a pathetically small smile, more of a twitch of my lips than anything.

I felt something bump my foot as Fred swung up onto the wall, sitting with his legs hanging over the side over the courtyard. "Alright, that was a pathetic attempt at a smile, Ber. What's up?"

I sighed, more to buy myself some time to think of an answer than anything. There was no way I was going to be a pathetic little girl and whine to him about boys. "Nothing, I'm just worried about a Potions test later today." I finally answered, which was sort of true. I wasn't that great in that class, so I always worried about it. Add in the fact that the teacher hates Gryffindors.

"Amber, come on. I've known you for a good five years, give me a little credit. You always worry about that class, but not enough to get you like this. Now seriously, what's wrong?" Fred's voice was abnormally serious, so I turned to answer him. Which was a bad idea. There's no way I could look away once his dark brown eyes caught mine, and there was no way I could lie to his face, either.

"Technically, you've only truly known me for four years." I tried weakly to change the subject, but the look Fred gave me told me I failed miserably. Sighing in defeat, I answered, "It's stupid, really, Fred. You shouldn't really bother about it, it's girl problems-"

"Are you PMSing?" he asked curiously, causing my mouth to fall open.

"I-what-NO!" I exclaimed, leaning forward with my hands out slightly in shock and confusion. "Where the bloody hell did that question come from?!"

Fred shrugged with an amused grin. "Well, it got a reaction outta you, didn't it?"

I tried to glare at him, but my lips were betraying me, the corners tugging up in amusement. Finally, I slouched back against the pillar behind me and looked back out to the courtyard, shaking my head, "Shut up, Fred."

He laughed and turned to lean back against the opposite pillar, looking across at me. "Come on, really. What's bugging you?"

I sighed, the smile falling from my lips. "It's nothing, really. I'm just sick of all this talk about the Yule Ball. I just want it to be done and over with."

"Why? I would've thought you'd be all excited like all the other girls?"

I rolled my eyes. "No thanks."

"You mean you aren't going?" Fred's voice was full of obvious confusion.

I shrugged and shook my head. "No. Why would I?"

"Um, to eat, dance, and have a good time with your friends?" he said it like it was a question, but at the same time like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I shrugged. "All my friends are probably going to be going with dates, and I'd rather not be the third wheel."

"What if someone asks you?"

I scoffed. "That's not going to happen."

Fred's face looked confused; the playful, mischievous spark in his eyes that was always there was gone, making his brown eyes look surprisingly dark. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Obviously, it means no one's going to ask me." I answer, looking at him like he was stupid.

"What if someone did?"

"They won't."

"But what if someone did?!" Fred asked insistently, leaning on his knees. "What if one of the most handsomest, dashing blokes in all of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons asked you to be his date to the Yule Ball? What would you say?"

"I'd say no." I answered with complete honesty. Fred's mouth fell open, before he closed it and looked at me suspiciously.

"I'm not sure if I believe you."

"Believe what you want, Weasley, it's the truth." I answered honestly.

"But why?"

I shrugged, looking away awkwardly. "I just don't want to go."

"There's more to it than that, I can tell."

"Why is this so important to you?" I asked in exasperation.

"Because I can tell something's upsetting you. Don't think I didn't notice the look on your face when you left breakfast. I know something upset you, I just didn't get the chance to see what." I looked back at Fred, and I could feel my walls crumbling despite my best attempts to keep them up.

Swallowing thickly, I answered barely above a whisper, "I just…If someone asks me, especially if it's a…particularly handsome or popular guy, I'm going to say no because…because I know if they ask me it'll be because either they lost a bet, or they were dared, or they just want to mess with my emotions or something like that. I just can't take being hurt like that, okay?"

"What the hell makes you think something like that? Why can't a guy ask you to the Ball just because he likes you or thinks your pretty, or-"

"I'm not pretty." I practically scoffed before I could stop myself. After a couple moments of silence I looked up at Fred and noticed him staring at me in shock.

"Where'd you get that idea?" he demanded. I bit my lip nervously and looked away. I really didn't want to get into this. I don't need his pity, and I certainly don't need him to see me how everyone else does. The sound of clothes scraping on stone alerted me to Fred scooting closer to me seconds before he grabbed my hand from my lap.

"Amber, please. What gave you the idea that you're not pretty?" Fred asked quietly.

"It's a long, kinda complicated story." I spoke hesitantly, trying to deter him.

"That's fine. I didn't want to attend Herbology today anyway." Fred answered as if it were nothing.

I sighed, dread welling up in my chest. I really didn't want to get into this.

"Please Amber?" I looked up and met his eyes, he was pleading with me, and I knew I would talk whether I liked it or not.

"Well, you know I had some muggle friends before I was accepted into Hogwarts?" Fred nodded. "Well, they were just a small group of friends. A couple I'd met when I was a toddler, one was a family friend, and the other was a neighbor. They were the only friends I'd ever had. None of the other muggle children from primary school liked me very much. To them, I was a freak. I don't really know why, they just enjoyed pointing out everything that was wrong with me.

"When I got accepted into Hogwarts, I thought that maybe things would be different. I'd fit in because everyone here is a witch or a wizard, like me. But even here people pick on me, either because of how small I was my first few years, because I'm ugly, because my dad's a muggle. Every little thing you could pick out of me, it was used against me. And then every summer when I go home, kids from my old school would see me and pick on me and taunt me. Nothing changed." I stopped, feeling my throat close and my breathing hitch. Fred's grip on my hand tightened comfortingly, and I gripped it tightly in an attempt to draw in strength.

"So, just because a bunch of prats picked on you when you were little, you refuse to have a good time at a dance?" Fred summed up, and I looked up at him in shock, pulling my hand from his. How could he belittle my feelings like that?

"I'm not going to the stupid dance, Fredrick Weasley, because I know that no one would ask me simply for the pleasure of my company. Anyone who would want to ask me would no doubt be doing so just so they could hurt me or embarrass me."

Fred scanned my face for a moment before asking, "So, because of everything you went through, you have some trust issues?"

"That's putting it lightly." I muttered, looking at my lap as I crossed my arms.

"But, you trust me and George, right? I mean, you've told me a lot about yourself that I doubt you'd tell many other people."

"And you're making me regret that, Fred." I answered tightly, still staring down at my lap.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean anything bad. I just don't get why you'd believe all that crap they said about you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking up at him in confusion. "They said the truth."

Fred stared at me like I'd grown two heads.

"The truth?! You mean you actually believe that nonsense? How could you believe those things?!"

I thought for a moment on how I could explain it to him. I knew he couldn't possibly understand unless I explained it the right way.

"You know how for Potions we have to memorize the list of ingredients for a test?"

"Uh, yeah?" Fed answered uncertainly, trying to see where I was going with this, probably.

"Well, to memorize the list, you tend to repeat it, right? Over and over again until it's ingrained in your memory and you can recite it without hardly thinking about it."

"Some people are better than others." Fred muttered with a small smirk. I felt my lips twitching, too.

"Well, this is kind of the same situation. I've heard the same insults and taunts over and over in my lifetime that I eventually started to believe it."

Fred was silent as he thought it over, his eyes flickering blankly as if seeing things in his own mind. "But…those are just opinions. Opinions of people who don't matter, why would you take their words as fact?"

My mouth opened slightly as I thought over my response. "Well, there were certainly enough people with the same opinions of me, it's kind of hard to ignore that, Fred. People from two different worlds, who never met each other, all of them had the same opinions of me. How can that be unless their opinions are fact?"

"Well, what about everyone who has different opinions? What about all the people who like you as you are?"

"Like who?" I asked in a tired voice, slouching back against the pillar behind me.

"Like me, and George, my mum and dad, Ginny, Charlie, Ron-"

"Your family doesn't count, they're too nice to say anything bad about anyone." I cut in. I had met his parents a couple times when me and my parents were at the station, Fred's family had been there at the same time to see their kids off to Hogwarts. Obviously I'd met Ron and Ginny a couple times both at the station and at school since we're in the same house, and I'd recently met their brother Charlie because he'd been at Hogwarts to help with the dragons for the first task. Fred had introduced us when Charlie joined them for dinner.

"Not true. If they didn't like you they'd be friendly in a…cold and formal sort of way. My Mum certainly wouldn't have tried to suffocate you with a bear hug at the station this year if she didn't like you. Those are reserved for family and close friends. And Ginny loves you since you helped her study for her Astronomy final exam last year."

"So Ginny struggles a bit in the _one_ subject I'm good at. That still doesn't prove your point, Fred." I argued, getting frustrated and uncomfortable.

Fred sighed in frustration, sounding more like a growl as he turned to swing his legs back over the side of the wall, bracing his hands on the edge of the stone. I could tell by his clenched jaw that he was gritting his teeth and grumbling under his breath. I could make out a few words.

 _"…isn't getting anywhere…different tactic…"_

I jumped slightly when Fred suddenly hopped down from the wall into the courtyard, turning to face me with one hand one the wall by my feet.

"Alright, we'll do it this way, then. Amber, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

My mouth fell open at the blunt, simple way he asked such a loaded question. It was so unexpected I didn't even know what I was supposed to say at first, but after getting over my shock, I knew what my answer was. What it had to be.

"No." I barely was able to get a whisper out, shaking my head slightly as I said it.

Fred sighed, like he was trying to keep his patience, but he didn't take his eyes from my face.

"Amber, come on. You know I'd never hurt you. I haven't done anything to make you doubt my friendship with you since George and I accidentally pranked you your second year. Just come to the Ball with me, as friends. We could have a good time, I promise."

My throat constricted and I suddenly felt nauseous, a painful twisting feeling erupting from my gut. I was shaking my head again before he even finished speaking. My eyes were burning and my vision was getting blurry; I knew I needed to get away from him. I couldn't cry in front of him, I had no reason to cry, and yet here I was, on the verge of tears.

I scooted to the side of the wall and jumped down into the frosted grass. I went to walk past him, but I didn't get very far before his hand closed on my elbow. I tried to pull away but suddenly my back was pressed against the stone pillar, Fred's hands on both my arms and his body so close I could feel his body heat. My eyes stared blankly ahead at the blurred red and gold of his necktie that disappeared under his robes, my 5'2" stance tiny compared to his 6'3" stature.

"Amber, _please_. I get that you're scared of being hurt, but you can't let that dictate your life. Not everyone is out to hurt you, least of all me. Hell, if anyone ever tries to hurt you when I'm around, I'll hex 'em." any other time I would've laughed, but I could barely breath past the lump in my throat. "Amber, I'm not taking no for an answer. I want you to go to the Yule Ball with me."

"Why?" my voice was scratchy as it came out, and I cleared my throat and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. "Why do you want to go with me so bad?"

"Lots of reasons." Fred answered simply. "For one, I know if I don't make you, you're not gonna go, and I want you to go so you can have a good time. I don't want you sulking around in your dorm." My eyes lowered because, deep down, I knew that's exactly what I would do. I decided to interject something before he could continue with his reasoning.

"What about what everyone else will think? Aren't you worried about what your friends will say?"

Fred chuckled and I looked up at him in confusion. One corner of his lips was pulled back a bit more than the other, revealing his perfect, white teeth in a playful grin.

"The only thing I care about when it comes to everyone else at the Ball," he leaned in close to my face so his breath washed over me and he spoke in a quieter voice, "is seeing their faces when they see how beautiful you are."

My mouth opened and closed for several seconds as I tried to think of something to say. My jumbled thoughts finally cleared a bit when Fred stood up straight and moved his hands from my arms and braced them against the pillar by my head. He was looking down at me expectantly, a playful, yet slightly arrogant grin on his face. Taking a deep breath, I crossed my arms over my chest and looked up at him.

"You're really not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope." Fred answered simply, his smirk still in place.

"But I don't want to." I whined.

Fred lifted one eyebrow at me. "You don't know what you do and don't want, Amber. You've never been in this kind of situation before. You might actually have a good time."

"What if I don't have a good time?" I asked challengingly.

Fred sighed deeply, as if this conversation was a chore.

"How about I make you a deal?" he offered, "You go to the Ball with me, and if you have a good time, you have to say 'Fred Weasley is all wise and powerful'. And if you don't have a good time…"

"You'll shave your head." I answered simply. Seeing his wide eyes staring down at me, I added, "And you can't do anything to help it grow back, it has to grow back naturally."

Fred's mouth fell open. "How is that even fair?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, my arms still crossed over my chest. "I guess you'll just have to make sure I have a good time, won't you?"

Fred thought for a moment before a wide grin spread over his face. "You mean you'll go with me?" he asked excitedly.

I sighed. "Yes, but our deal still stands." I added quickly.

He put his hand out for me to shake. "Fair enough."

~*0*~

I took a deep breath, placing my hand on my stomach in hopes it would make the nervousness go away. I was even more grateful that the dress I chose didn't squeeze me, or I definitely would throw up, but instead it was loose, comfy, and easy to move in. I'd almost chosen a dress that had a belt around my stomach, and I'm extremely happy I didn't.

It was a simple dress, light blue in color with sleeves that went to my elbows and a small v-neck neckline. It left my back bare until the small of my back and the skirt went to the tops of my feet, a few inches off the ground. I was wearing simple, matching wedges that only added a couple inches to my height, there was no way I'd be wearing 6 inch heels and risk breaking an ankle. Finally, my make-up was natural and my long, dark brown hair was left to hang down just past my shoulder blades in its natural waves; except for the slightly shorter pieces closest to my face. Those were braided and pinned at the back of my head to keep them out of my face.

Deciding I looked about as good as I was going to get, I took another deep breath and left my dorm.

As I made the walk to the Great Hall, I was aware of people looking at me and whispering as I made my way past, but I forced myself not to pay any attention, so I had no clue what they were whispering about.

I paused just outside the entrance to the Great Hall, standing to the side to allow others to make their way in. Fred had told me he'd meet me just inside the entrance, and I'd heard that several other people were doing the same thing, which meant there was a good chance there was a decent sized crowd waiting just inside the doors.

I swallowed, realizing my throat was a bit dry, but I pushed that thought away and slowly entered the Great Hall behind a trio of girls.

They mostly blocked me from sight, but I could just make out several guys waiting in a sort of semicircle around the entrance, apart from a break in the middle so people could get through. My eyes scanned the crowd, trying to find Fred. I could feel eyes on me as many of the guys turned to look at me, talking among themselves. My palms started sweating and I had no idea what to do with my hands.

Finally, I spotted two heads of flaming red hair above the crowd and made my way towards them. As I passed by the guys and girls crowding around the entrance, I heard several whispered comments, many of them I had a feeling were directed at me.

 _"Who is that?"_

 _"She doesn't look familiar."_

 _"Isn't that Amber Carter?"_

 _"No way! I didn't even recognize her!"_

I could tell my face was bright red and I felt like I was going to pass out, but then Fred glanced over from where he was talking with George. As soon as he saw me he turned and smiled at me. His eyes slowly looked me up and down before he flashed me a somewhat cocky smirk, his whole expression screaming, _'I told you so,'_.

I finally came to a stop just in front of him and George, who was also giving me a friendly smile, though his eyes were also scanning the entrance, looking out for his own date, Angelina.

Smirk still in place, Fred bowed teasingly, taking my hand in his and kissing the top of it, "Evening, my lady."

I giggled, my face blushing once again. "Good evening, kind sir." I answered jokingly. Still holding my hand, Fred tugged me a few steps closer to him, leaning down to talk quietly with his face several inches from mine.

"For the record, I told you so. I'm rather enjoying the looks on everyone's faces at seeing how beautiful you are."

I blushed and managed to collect my thoughts enough to respond. "Yeah, well, that doesn't mean much considering you should be worrying about our little deal, not everyone's faces. If you don't want to be bald for a couple months I suggest you make sure I have fun tonight."

"Do you know who you're with tonight? I happen to be, not only the handsomest bloke at the Ball, I'm also the chief of fun." Fred boasted, puffing out his chest proudly.

I rolled my eyes teasingly. "Alright, chief of fun, lets get this over with."

"Now, now, don't be a kill joy, Ber." Fred chastised teasingly as he turned and offered me his arm. Trying to ignore my nervous stomach, I gripped his arm with my hand, allowing him to lead me to a table.

I didn't eat as much for dinner as I normally would, due to my still mildly nervous stomach. The last thing I wanted to do was throw up all over Fred in front of three different schools.

Finally, after the champions and their dates danced for the duration of a song, several other couples joined them on the dance floor. And I had no hope of escape when Fred decided we'd be dancing as well. I had no chance fighting against his Beater-toned muscles.

However, despite my nerves and the fact that I can't dance, I actually had a good time. Fred was a pretty good dancer, though I'd never say that to his face, his ego's big enough as it is. I actually felt…beautiful…graceful. Maybe McGonagall's statement about there being a swan in every girl wasn't so farfetched after all. Whether we were slow dancing, dancing to upbeat songs, talking with George and their friends, or simply swaying to the music; I actually had a really fun time. Every time he lifted me into the air or spun me around, I felt like a princess. The whole night itself made me feel like Cinderella, a muggle movie I'd grown up watching. It wasn't one I'd particularly favored as a child, but that was how the night made me feel.

As the night wore on, the crowd in the Great Hall had diminished greatly, less than half the guests remaining as the end of the night grew closer. Me and Fred were one of only a few couples left on the dance floor. We'd spent hardly any time off the dance floor, and eventually Fred had talked me into taking my shoes off, since my feet had started to ache. Now we were simply swaying to the music, my head rested on his chest with one hand on his shoulder, one of his arms wrapped around my waist and our free hands holding each others. It would hardly be considered dancing, but I was too lazy and comfortable to care. The tingling feeling from where Fred's fingers were occasionally brushing my bare back had become addictive and I didn't want it to end anytime soon.

"So. Did you have a good time tonight?" Fred asked quietly, his chin resting on my head. I smiled before giving a heavy sigh and teasing him.

"Yeah, so I guess you don't have to shave your head." I spoke heavily, as if it was disappointing. Fred pressed his face into the top of my head, and I could feel his lips pulling back into a grin.

"You sound disappointed. Don't tell me your siding with my Mum and thinking I need a hair cut?"

I smiled and tilted my head to look up at him. He pulled back to smile down at me. I examined his face, and the soft orange locks that framed his face.

"No, I don't have a problem with your hair. But it does kind of distract from your face." I spoke thoughtfully, more to myself then him.

"Oh really? Well what about you? I love your hair, but it very much distracts from your face." he responded, giving a lock of my hair a light tug.

I snorted before I could stop myself. "That's probably a good thing. I'm pretty sure I'd look like a boy with short hair."

Fred's smile dropped and he stopped swaying us. "Amber, seriously, how often are you going to do that? You're beautiful, don't let those losers win by tearing yourself down."

I looked down between us and bit my lip. "Sorry. It's a habit." Fred put a finger under my chin to tilt my head up to face him.

"A habit that I'm going to help you break, if it's the last thing I do." he promised seriously. I didn't like his expression. Fred, like George, had always been known as a prankster, a joker, always having fun and smiling. But now he wasn't smiling, and it was because of me. So right then, I made a vow. I would try my best to stop tearing myself down, and who knows? Maybe, eventually, I'll start to believe Fred instead of everyone else.

"Okay. I'll do my best to stop." I whisper to him. That made his smile return, and I couldn't help smiling back at him.

"You know, I think we made a deal. Aren't you supposed to say something, since you had a good night, and all?" Fred teased. I sighed and mumbled the dreaded phrase under my breath. "I'm sorry? What was that? I couldn't quite hear you?" he teased again, smirking as he leaned in a bit closer.

I sighed in defeat. "Fred Weasley is all wise and powerful." I announced at normal volume.

"Thank you." Fred answered smugly.

Eventually, we had to end the night, and Fred walked me back to the Gryffindor Common room. We talked for a few minutes at the foot of the girls' dormitory steps before Fred did something I hadn't been expecting.

"Night Amber. I'm glad you had a good night." Fred spoke quietly before leaning down and brushing his lips against my cheek. By the time I got over my shock he had pulled away, winked at me, and turned to head up the boys' steps.

~*0*~

I pushed my trolley through the crowded train station, ignoring all the bustling people running into me every ten seconds. Tiny's feathers were fluffed up from inside her cage on the trolley, and she was letting out occasional, shrill squawks to show her distress over the loud, bustling crowd. Wanting to get her out of the crowd quickly, I tried looking around to spot my parents.

"Amber!"

My head snapped around even though I knew for a fact that wasn't my parents.

Fred's face was easily visible over the heads of the crowd as he made his way over to me. His smile was as big as always when he finally reached me.

"You weren't leaving without saying goodbye, were you?" he asked playfully, pulling me into a tight hug.

I laughed as he finally released me. "No, I just didn't know where you were."

"And the mass of redheads didn't give it away?" he joked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder where, sure enough, there was a mass of redheads. A break in the crowd revealed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, George, Ron, Ginny, a tall man with long, red hair that I didn't recognize, as well as Harry and Hermione.

"Well, I didn't see them until now, Fredrick." I answered, turning to look up at him with my hands on my hips. "Who's the other guy that I don't recognize?"

Fred looked back toward his family to check who I was referring to before turning back to me. "Oh, that's our older brother, Bill. I guess he got a few weeks off, he works at Gringotts in Egypt. He wanted to visit the family since we haven't seen him since we went on holiday in Egypt to visit, and he wanted to catch up and everything."

"Oh, okay. That's good." Now I can see why Molly's always freaking out about the boys needing haircuts. Bill's was past his shoulders, though he could actually pull it off. It kind of made him look like a punk rocker or something. Tiny's distressed squawk brought me out of my thoughts. "Well, I'd better go find my parents. All this stress isn't good for Tiny."

"Yeah, I can tell." Fred smirked and pulled me into another tight hug. Leaning down he spoke in my ear so he didn't have to shout over the crowd. "You better owl me over the summer."

"Same goes to you. I want to hear about all the trouble you and George get into during the summer."

"Trouble? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an innocent little angel!" Fred argued teasingly, pulling away from the hug.

I smirked at him. "Sure. But seriously, I want to know what you guys are up to."

"Fair enough, as long as you do the same."

"Deal, but fair warning, my summers are probably boring and depressing compared to summers with the Weasley brood." I warned.

"Don't care, I want to know." Fred answered just as we were interrupted.

"AMBER!" a loud voice shouted before suddenly I was in the air with two arms wrapped around my stomach, spinning me in circles. "You weren't leaving without saying goodbye, were you?" George's voice practically shouted in my ear. When he finally put me back down and everything stopped spinning I realized the red blurs I was seeing was the whole Weasley family congregating around us.

"Oh Amber, it's so nice to see you!" Mrs. Weasley pulled me into a fierce hug. Next thing I know, my parents are here and they're talking with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for a few minutes while I get introduced to Bill and say my goodbyes to everyone.

My parents turned to leave, my dad offering to push my trolley for me, but I'm stopped by a hand grabbing my wrist. I turn just in time for Fred to kiss my cheek again. He's been doing that a bit more frequently since the first time at the Yule Ball.

"Have a good summer, Ber." he said quietly, looking down at me with a smile so different from his usual one, but I liked this one just as much.

"You too, Fred."

 **OoOoOoO**

 **I skipped her third and fourth year because I really didn't have any ideas for what to put in there, and I already have enough ideas I want to write without adding in stuff like that.**

 **I debated splitting this part up due to its length, but it's about the same length as the next part, so I figured I'd leave it as is. Hope everyone liked it, I love getting reviews from readers if anyone wants to leave me one. Maybe let me know what your favorite part was in this chapter?**

 **(Also, am I the only one who thinks Fred's smile on the cover picture I picked is** _ **extremely**_ **attractive? (I'm pretty sure it's Fred, don't judge if I'm wrong))**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sixth Year**

"Expecto Patronum." I muttered, practically glaring at the space in front of my wand. A thin silver wisp appeared for a second before evaporating. "Ugh." I groaned in annoyance as my eyes traveled around the Room of Requirements. Students were standing in clumps, laughing and giggling as huge streams of silver mist shot from their wands, along with a select few animal forms. Hermione got an otter, Luna a hare, Ron a Jack Russell Terrier, Ginny a horse.

I sighed in defeat, looking glumly down at my wand in my hand. I knew getting frustrated certainly wasn't helping make a Patronus, since I needed a happy memory, but after a good half hour of trying with little success while people around me were at least making incorporeal Patronuses, it was hard not to get upset.

A sharp whistle made my head snap up, followed by a series of clicks. Before I could turn to find the source of the sounds, a silver misty shape appeared from the corner of my eye. A dolphin Patronus swam around me, whistling and clicking as it circled me a couple times before coming to a stop in front of me. A smile and giggle escaped me as it reared up, flapping its tail. It did this for a few moments before swimming back around me. I turned to watch it and saw it disappear into Fred's wand. I looked up and met his eyes, seeing him give me a smile.

I giggled quietly as I turned back to the direction I'd been facing, lifting my wand in a ready stance. However, I didn't do anything. I didn't even try. I couldn't think of a memory happy enough to do it. I had several happy memories, I just didn't know if any of them were happy enough.

A tall body came up behind me, his shadow falling over mine as his hand came up to grip my wand hand, the inside of his arm touching the entire length of mine. I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling embarrassment and defeat welling up inside me. I felt warm breath at my ear and neck as he leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"Just think of the happiest memory you can. You can do it, Ber, I know you can." Fred's reassuring voice helped me to relax a bit, but I was still frustrated.

"What memory did you think of?" I whispered back, opening my eyes to look at my wand, and his hand covering mine. He was quiet and still for a few moments before he leaned closer again.

"Hogsmeade."

I smiled despite myself, my remaining frustration evaporating as I thought of one of our previous trips to Hogsmeade. Our first date.

"What part of it?" I whispered back. He chuckled quietly near my ear, his breath making goosebumps erupt on my arms.

"Walking with you, Honeydukes, Zonkos Joke Shop,…but I think the part that got my Patronus to work was the ending, just before we got back to Hogwarts."

I blushed and looked down, trying to hide a smile. Just before we got back to Hogwarts, Fred had pulled me off to the side and kissed me. It hadn't been our first kiss, but it had probably been one of the best. It was more than the simple pecks we'd shared before that one, and I had very much enjoyed it.

"I'm surprised it wasn't something with George." I murmured quietly, leaning back into him.

"I did think of Georgie at first. A few things like our first prank, going to Hogwarts for the first time, making the Quidditch team…Some of those were enough for me to form an incorporeal Patronus. But then when I looked at you and thought of that kiss…I said the incantation and my Patronus worked. I wasn't expecting a dolphin though, that was kinda surprising."

"It fits though." I looked up thoughtfully, "I mean, they're social, friendly, playful…Like you." I leaned my head back against his chest and his free hand came up to hold mine, weaving our fingers together. Fred rested his chin on my shoulder, his head leaning against mine.

"Playful, huh? I suppose that makes sense." he whispered before turning and blowing a raspberry into my neck. I giggled and shrugged my shoulder, trying to pull away to get him to stop, but he released my free hand to wrap his arm around my waist, holding me against him.

"Stop." I giggled, trying to pull away from him.

"Oi! Freddie! Quit gettin' handsy with your girl and help her form her Patronus!" George's playful voice echoed around the room, and drew everyone's attention to Fred and me. While I blushed and avoided eye contact with everyone, Fred smirked over at his twin.

"I am helping her. This is my way of…jogging her memory." he called.

"Ugh, Fred! Gross!" Ginny's voice echoed as laughter surrounded us. I groaned in embarrassment and turned to bury my red face into Fred's chest, which was shaking with laughter.

"You prat. Was that necessary?" I mumbled into his sweater-clothed chest.

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't." Fred spoke into my ear before kissing the top of my head. "Now come on. Give it another go." he ordered, gently turning me around and raising my wand hand again before letting go and stepping away from me.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to think of something that was happy enough, and strong enough. I thought back to the Yule Ball, and some of the things that were said or done, and muttered the incantation. A stream of mist swirled from the tip of my wand for a few seconds before it disappeared. A grin appeared on my face with a relieved sigh. I smiled at Fred, who looked just as thrilled as he nodded, encouraging me to try it again.

I turned back to my wand and tried to think of something else. The last DA meeting before Christmas holidays came to mind, and I let the memory fill my mind and body…

 _I followed the rest of the crowd out of the Room of Requirements, slightly disappointed I wouldn't be able to practice over the holidays. The DA meetings had become the highlight of my day._

 _"Hey Amber." I stopped just down the hallway, off to the side of the doorway to the Room of Requirements. Fred approached me with his usual friendly smile as George followed the other students down the hall, carrying the red box of their Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products._

 _"Hey." I smiled back at him as he approached._

 _"I'm actually really going to miss these meetings over the holidays." Fred admitted, leaning his shoulder against the wall next to me._

 _"Same here. It sucks we can't practice outside of the meetings."_

 _Fred smirked. "You can't, but I can."_

 _"Shut up." I grumbled, a small smile tugging at my lips. Leaning my back against the wall next to him, I looked up playfully. "So, what are you getting me for Christmas?"_

 _Fred thought for a moment. "I guess you'll just have to wait, Ber. What are you getting me?"_

 _I shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to wait. I'll owl you on Christmas with presents for both you and George."_

 _Fred nodded. "I look forward to it."_

 _I was about to respond, when movement from above my head made me look up. My face immediately went up in flames. A clump of thin, green stems with small leaves and white berries was slowing growing down from the ceiling. The same seasonal plant that was currently hung in intervals down the corridors. Mistletoe._

 _Fred looked up, too, but instead of blushing he smirked and looked back down at me._

 _"Well, would you look at that. Think it's a sign or something?" he asked playfully, standing straight from where he'd been leaning against the wall and stepping closer to me while I leaned further into the wall._

 _I bit my lip as I looked up at him, not sure how to react or what to say. Obviously, I knew what you were supposed to do under a mistletoe, but why would Fred want to do that with me? Yeah, he asked me to the Yule Ball, but he admitted we went only as friends. And he kissed me on the cheek rather frequently, but-_

 _My thoughts halted and my eyes went wide when I felt something warm and soft gently press to my own lips. By the time I fully realized what was happening Fred pulled away. I took in his expression with wide eyes. He had a small smile on his face, and his eyes were happy, but a bit cautious, as if he were worried about my reaction._

 _"Was that okay?" he whispered, his breath tingling my cheeks since his face was only about five inches from mine. I closed my mouth and swallowed before I slowly nodded my head. His eyes scanned my face for a few moments before he spoke again._

 _"You know, I didn't kiss you just because of the mistletoe. I wanted to kiss you." he admitted quietly. My eyes grew just a bit wider as I stared at him in shock._

 _"Why?" I whispered. Fred's lips twitched into a playful grin as he looked at me like I was an idiot._

 _"How obvious do I have to be, Ber? Do you think I kiss all my lady friends on the cheek practically daily? No, that's just you."_

 _I gaped up at him. "I-you-huh?"_

 _Fred laughed, lifting his head just a bit. "Come on, Amber, you're smarter than that. When I asked you to the Ball last year, it wasn't just because I wanted you to have a good time. I wanted to show all those other guys what they were missing out on. I wanted them to see what I saw all along." Seeing that I was still giving him a blank look, Fred leaned down again until he was only a couple inches away from my face, "I wanted them to see how beautiful you are, and rub it in their faces that I was the one dancing with you, not any of them."_

 _I slowly let out a breath I'd been holding, looking up at him in shock. I hadn't been expecting any of that, not at all. But this was Fred Weasley. Lots of girls liked him, why would he settle for someone like me?_

 _Fred watched my face for several moments as I tried to come up with something to say. "You could say something, you know."_

 _"I'm not sure what to say." I admitted quietly._

 _"How about you just answer a question for me, then." Fred suggested gently. "Would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?"_

 _I started smiling before my brain had fully registered the question. I licked my lips nervously as I nodded. "Yeah."_

 _Fred grinned, his eyes lighting up like I'd never seen before. "Next question." I nodded, "Can I kiss you again?"_

 _I laughed, nodding my head as he leaned in…_

I opened my eyes with a huge grin on my face, letting the memory fill my mind, all the emotions I'd felt that evening filling my body and flowing into my wand as I muttered, "Expecto Patronum."

Silver mist shot out of my wand, swirling until a shape began to form. Two big ears, tiny paws, a curved body, and a cotton-like tail. At first glance I thought it was a hare, like Luna's. But it was overall smaller than hers, its ears were shorter and rounder, it's body wasn't as long and lean, its face was rounder, and its legs were shorter. It was a rabbit. My Patronus is a rabbit.

I laughed and warmth spread through my whole body as the rabbit bounded in a circle around me before disappearing into the air. I laughed in relief, on a bit of a high from finally getting it. I turned to look at Fred, who looked almost as thrilled as I was. Spinning on my toe, I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug as he spun me around.

When we stopped spinning, he kept his arms tight around me, holding me several inches off the ground.

"I knew you could do it." he murmured in my ear before kissing my cheek.

~*0*~

I turned the page of my Potions text book, reading the last page of the assigned reading Professor Snape gave us. The scuffing of shoes on the floor made me glance up, and then do a double take at the glimpse of red. A smile erupted on my face as I met Fred's eyes. Deciding I could finish the last page before bed, I closed my book and slipped it into my shoulder bag before standing up. Fred reached me just as I was standing.

"Hey." he smiled, kissing my cheek as he grabbed my hand.

"Hi. How's it going?" I asked, leaning back against the wall.

"Pretty good. George and I made a bunch more sales today, and I passed my test in Muggle Studies, thanks to my wonderful girlfriend helping me study." he gave me a huge grin before continuing, "Which reminds me…do you think you could help me with some of my homework tonight?" he asked sweetly, giving me the adorable, seemingly-innocent smile he knew I had a soft spot for.

I sighed. "Fine, but I'm only helping you with it, I'm not doing it for you."

Fred put his free hand to his chest in mock pain and shock. "I can't believe you'd even think so little of me. I'm not Ronnikins!" I laughed, knowing he was referring to Ron always asking Hermione to do his homework for him, which she had been complaining about just last night. "Anyway, how has your day been so far?"

I smiled, thinking about how my day had gone. "Well, we were only in Dark Arts for about ten minutes before someone set off a dung bomb. When Umbridge tried to find out who did it, several people started taking turns admitting they did it, however no one had any evidence as to who actually did it."

Fred laughed loudly at that. "That's brilliant! Yes!" I laughed with him, watching his whole face light up. When he calmed down he looked down at me. "So, no one has any idea who actually did it?"

I shrugged. "I noticed a couple guys and girls smirking at each other from across the room, but it's hard to tell who actually did it. Obviously several of them were behind it."

Fred once again placed a hand on his chest. "My fellow young pranksters, all grown up." he sniffed, "I'm so proud."

We both burst out laughing as he pulled me into his chest, kissing the top of my head. I tilted my head back to look up at him, resting my chin on his chest. He smiled before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. I leaned up to meet him and smiled into the kiss.

Our lips moved together, and Fred's free hand came up to brush my cheek. After a moment I felt his tongue brush my lip. He'd done that a few times but I'd been too shy to open my mouth before. This time I threw caution to the wind and opened my mouth, letting his tongue slip between my lips.

I saw a white flash behind my eyelids before an invisible force shoved me and Fred apart. I skidded backward and slammed into the wall behind me, my head flying back and smacking into the stone. I looked up just in time to see Umbridge, with her sugary-sweet smile and blindingly-pink outfit, walk away from us, her wand and clipboard in hand.

I stood there for a moment, breathing heavily through my nose, both from mine and Fred's earlier activities, as well as my anger. I could tell by the tenseness in Fred's jaw and the darkness in his eyes that he was equally pissed off.

I grimaced and reached up to rub the back of my head, which stung.

"Are you okay?" I looked up and realized Fred had moved to stand right in front of me, his hands resting on my hips.

I gave him a small smile. "Yeah."

Fred glared over his shoulder at the old toad before looking back down at me. "I swear, if I make it through this year without killing that old hag, it'll be a miracle."

I smiled sympathetically up at him. "Fred, I'm fine, honestly. It doesn't even-" I winced when Fred reached up to touch his fingers to the small bump on the back of my head.

His eyes were dark as he mumbled under his breath, "You were saying?" he growled, "This sucks. I can't even kiss my girlfriend without that old toad getting in the way. Stupid 'Students must be eight inches apart' rule. I should be allowed to kiss you if I want to."

I smiled sadly up at him, taking his hand and holding it to my cheek, kissing his palm. Then, an idea popped into my head and I grinned up at him mischievously. When he saw my expression, he looked confused, but started smiling nonetheless.

"What?"

"What if we snuck out tonight?" I suggested innocently.

Fred blinked before a huge grin lit up his face. "Have I mentioned I love the way you think?"

When the clock struck 11:50 I tiptoed down the steps from my dorm, wearing a robe over an old T-shirt and shorts, with socks on my feet. After carefully sneaking down the corridors, a doorway magically appeared in the wall. Taking a careful look around, I slipped inside the door, closing it behind me.

The Room of Requirements looked very different from when we practiced in it. Instead it was small with a burning fireplace on the far wall, and a big, comfy-looking sofa. Sitting on the sofa, with his arm stretched over the back and looking over his shoulder at me, was Fred.

"Hey." he smiled as I approached.

"Hi." I said back as I sat down next to him, curling up into his side under his arm.

"Did you have any problems getting here?" he asked, dropping his arm to wrap tightly around my waist as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Not a one. You?" I asked taking his hand and weaving my fingers through his. He started rubbing his thumb in circles on the top of my hand as he answered.

"I almost got caught by Filch's hairy toad he calls a cat, but the Room's door opened just in time for me to hide."

"You should be more careful." I couldn't help the seriousness in my tone. "If you get caught you'll get a detention with Umbridge."

"Not like it'll be the first detention I've ever had. I'm pretty sure me and George set a record for the most detentions in our first year." Fred smirked.

I rolled my eyes, turning my head to look up at him. "Yeah, but you've heard the rumors about what her detentions are like. I don't want you to go through that, Fred. Please try to be careful?"

Fred kissed my forehead. "I'll try, but you know none of us are exactly being goody-two-shoes, what with starting a secret organization to practice defensive spells."

I grimaced and looked down at our entwined hands. "True."

Fred's shoulder lifted enough to nudge my cheek. I looked up at him and he swept down, kissing me with abandon, gently pushing me down into the couch and hovering over me.

I lost track of time, getting swept up in the heat of the moment. After a while, we knew we needed to stop before we wouldn't be able to. I knew I wasn't ready to go all the way, and the thought of doing so was terrifying. I was still unsure of myself, and even though I wanted to trust Fred completely, part of me was still afraid he'd eventually realize he deserved better. Besides, we'd only been dating for a few months, and we didn't need to rush anything.

Just before leaving the Room of Requirements, Fred ran his hand through my hair gently, unknotting the tangles from where he'd been burying his hands in it not ten minutes ago.

"If I don't see you at the Common Room, sweet dreams. I'll see you at breakfast." he whispered, pressing a brief kiss to my lips.

"Good night." I whispered back before we slipped out the door, going separate ways to lessen our chances of being caught.

I was about halfway back to the Common Room when I paused, sure I'd heard an extra echo to my footsteps. Sure enough, I could hear distant clicking of footsteps from ahead of me. Seeing a glimpse of pink round the corner ahead, I turned and bolted the way I came.

Unfortunately, a bright light made me skid to a stop as Filch approached me. I looked over my shoulder frantically, only to see Umbridge approaching me with that sickly sweet, fake innocent smile, her hands folded in front of her.

"Out for an evening stroll, are we?" she asked me in that high-pitched, baby-like voice.

My breathing got shaky as I looked between her and Filch, and I barely kept back the whimper that wanted to break through.

"Were you out alone, or was someone with you?" Umbridge asked after several moments of my silence.

I swallowed and opened my mouth, but nothing came out. A loud shout echoed off the walls from behind me, followed by the sound of a scuffle.

I turned and watched along with Umbridge and Filch as a group of figures made their way through the dark corridor. As they neared Filch's lantern, I closed my eyes, a sharp pain erupting in my chest.

Three Slytherins, no doubt members of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, were dragging none other than Fred Weasley by his arms. Fred looked murderous, but when he saw me, fear and panic flashed in his eyes before he steeled his expression and stared blankly at Umbridge. I knew why. We needed to act like we hadn't been together. We'd already get in enough trouble for being out after curfew, but if they knew we were together Umbridge would probably try to spout some crap about us working together against the Ministry or something.

"Well, well. Two young students out for a late night stroll? Seems a bit fishy to me." Umbridge stated in that annoying voice of hers, looking between me and Fred. "What were you two doing out and about?"

I glanced at Fred as I racked my brain for some kind of believable excuse. "I…couldn't sleep, so I tried to go for a walk." I answered slowly, having not been able to think of anything better.

"And why did you try to run?"

"I was afraid of getting in trouble." I answered truthfully.

"Hm." Umbridge hummed, the sound coming out like a squeak before she turned to Fred. "And you?"

Fred swallowed, glaring at the pink toad. "I was walking back to my dorm after a detention with McGonagall." he answered firmly. I wasn't sure if that was the smartest thing for him to have said, but then again our Head of House really didn't like Umbridge and strongly disagreed with her…tactics. There was a chance she'd cover for Fred if it came down to it.

"You're just getting done with a detention at…nearly 1:30 in the morning?" Umbridge questioned.

"What can I say? I've always been a bit of a troublemaker." Fred responded dryly. I could've sworn I saw her eye twitch at his response, but I couldn't be sure.

"There's no way these two are out here by coincidence." one of the Slytherin boys announced, stepping away from Fred and closer to Umbridge, looking between me and Fred in disgust. "They're always all over each other and kissing and stuff. They probably snuck out." he sneered at Fred, "Figures a blood traitor like Weasley would settle for a pathetic, disgusting little Mudblood."

Fred lunged forward, but the other two Slytherins held him back. I wanted to try and stop Fred, but I was frozen in place. The words the boy spoke only stung a little bit, but I was more taken over by fear. Fear of what Umbridge would do to us if she found out the Slytherin's guess had been spot on.

"That is enough." Umbridge's voice went squeaky when she spoke over the noise of Fred struggling against his captors. When Fred finally stopped, she continued, "Now, you two will be joining me for detention this evening. Come along."

"But it's 1:30 in the morning." I pointed out in confusion. She looked at me as if she were examining me.

"Well, you two should have thought of that before. Now, come along."

The two boys who were still holding Fred shoved him forward to walk, while the third guy gave me a push to get me going. I walked alongside Fred, as close as I could get without making it obvious. After a while, we made it to Umbridge's office, and I had to blink several times against the blindingly pink walls. Circular plates with cats on them covered every foot of the walls, and several of the cats hissed at us as we entered. Filch and the Slytherins turned and left, closing the door behind them, leaving Fred and I alone with Umbridge.

She walked around her desk and stood behind it, her hands folded in front of her. We stared back at her for several moments before she swept her hand out, indicating the row of desks lined up in front of her own desk. "Please. Sit."

Fred and I exchanged a glance before doing as she said. A blank sheet of parchment and a long, black quill were placed on each desk. As Umbridge circled our desks, we each picked up our quill, awaiting instruction.

"Now, I want you both to write _'I will follow the rules'_ on your parchment."

"We don't have ink." I spoke quietly, afraid of getting in trouble.

"You won't be needing any, these are special quills." Umbridge responded, going to the other side of the room to make tea.

"How many times do you want us to write it?" Fred asked tightly, his jaw tense.

"I'll let you know when you can stop."

I looked over and met Fred's eyes. I gave him a small smile before turning back to my parchment.

I placed the sharp point of the quill to the parchment and began writing, the words showing up in bright red letters. I winced at a sharp pain on my free hand. I ignored it until it happened a moment later. I hissed through my teeth and stopped writing, looking down at my empty hand.

Right before my eyes, the words _'I will follow the rules_ ' were being cut into the back of my hand. I grimaced and gritted my teeth, trying to swallow a whimper of pain as the words stopped, then healed over.

Swallowing, I looked over at Fred. His jaw was tensed, but for a different reason. I could see him flexing his hand, the same words in his own handwriting appearing in red on his hand. He looked up and met my eyes, and I could see the pain and regret in his glistening brown eyes. I tried and failed to give him a smile before looking back down at my parchment, silently preparing myself for writing another line.

Taking a deep, albeit shaky, breath; I put the quill to the parchment to write my second line. This time I couldn't hold in the gasp of pain as the words began carving into my hand on the same, still-tender spot as before.

"Yes?" Umbridge approached my desk, looking down at me with a curious, falsely-innocent look, "Did you have something to say?"

I shook my head, looking back down at my desk.

By the time I'd finished my second line, Umbridge told us to stop.

"I think you've had enough time for it to…sink in. You both may go, and don't let me catch you breaking any more rules."

Fred and I quickly left her office, not slowing down until we were walking through the dark corridors.

I lifted my tender hand to my chest, wincing as I rubbed it with my other hand. Fred sighed and took my injured hand in his gently, so gentle I almost couldn't feel his touch. He lifted our hands to his face and tenderly kissed the back of my hand. I watched the whole exchange, realizing that he had yet to speak to me or look at me.

"Fred?" I whispered weakly.

"Hm?" he hummed, lowering our hands to hang between us, though not releasing my hand.

"Say something." I pleaded.

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I'm sorry." he whispered brokenly, opening his eyes, but still not looking at me. "I'm so sorry, Amber. I don't regret getting the detention, I don't regret sneaking out to be with you, but I do regret getting you hurt. If it was any other detention, I wouldn't care. I'd laugh about it. But you got hurt, and it was my fault. I promised you I'd never hurt you, and I did. I broke that promise. And I'm sorry."

I gaped up at him for a moment before I stopped walking, pulling him to stop beside me. He looked over my head until I reached up with my free hand, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him to look down at me.

"Don't apologize. Please Fred, please don't regret this." I pleaded, "Up until that detention, tonight has been the best night I've had in a long time. I don't regret any of it. Please don't let that old toad taint everything that happened earlier. I actually had fun and let loose with you. I got to talk to you and cuddle with you without getting in trouble. And you weren't the one that hurt me, okay. She did. Umbridge hurt me, and she hurt you, just like she's hurt so many other kids with her horrible detentions. That's what we're fighting for, right? Why we started Dumbledore's Army? To fight what she and the Ministry are trying to do, so we can protect ourselves and the people we care about. If we let her break us, we've already lost. Please Fred."

Fred listened to my whole speech with a sad smile, one corner tilted up more than the other. My hand slowly released his hair, which I'd unknowingly gripped in my fist, and slid to rest against his neck. Fred gently squeezed my waist, which I didn't realize he'd gripped, and leaned down to place his forehead against mine.

"Okay," he whispered, "You're right. We won't let her win."

~*0*~

Breakfast appeared to be the same as any other day. I was sitting next to Fred, George was on his other side. They spent most of their time talking quietly together, but every minute or so Fred would stop talking to his brother and either talk to me for a moment or kiss my cheek.

When breakfast ended, Fred and George exchanged a silent look before nodding. George got up and left, and Fred turned to me.

"Can we talk?" he whispered, standing up and holding out his hand. I smiled nervously and nodded, taking his hand and following him out of the Great Hall and into the corridors. We walked until we came to an empty classroom, and stood just inside the doorway.

Fred sighed, looking anxious as he avoided looking down at me.

"Fred? What's wrong?" I asked quietly.

He closed his eyes before looking down at the floor between us.

"I just wanted you to know…George and I…we're leaving."

"What?" I asked, feeling like I'd been punched in the gut.

"It's just that,…it's like you said. We can't let Umbridge win, and George and I hate her more than anyone we've ever met. Especially after what she did to you. Besides, we have no need to finish our last year here, we've already bought a building for our shop, it's our dream. We can leave and get it started." I knew they'd picked out a building, and Fred had mentioned buying it with Harry's winnings from the Tournament, but I didn't know they'd already gotten this far.

"You mean, you're just-just gonna leave? Just like that?" I asked in a small, weak voice, feeling more lost than I'd ever felt before.

Fred grabbed both my hands in his and pulled us closer, resting his forehead against mine. "Please, Amber. Please understand, this is something we have to do. Okay? I hate it here. I used to love this school, but now…she's ruined it for everyone. You said yourself, we can't let her win."

"I didn't mean for you to leave me!" I shouted, my eyes burning with unshed tears, afraid to look up at him.

Fred kissed my forehead, wrapping one arm around my back to hold me to his chest. "I'm not leaving you, Ber. I'm just going to get our shop up and running. I'll owl you as often as I can. This was going to happen eventually. I'm a year older than you, we were going to be apart for your last year, anyway."

"That's not the point, Fred! With everything that's happening, you're leaving me behind to deal with all of this alone. You said…you promised me you'd never hurt me, or abandon me." I finished in a weak whimper, trying to push away from him. But he held firm, wrapping both his arms tightly around my body to pin me against him.

"Amber, I'm not abandoning you. Please don't ever think this is me abandoning you." Fred pleaded, ducking to try and look me in the eyes, but I kept my head down. "Think of this as me getting our life started." I froze and listened, "I want to be with you, Amber. When I think about what I want for the future, I can see you in it. If I leave with George, and we get our shop opened, it'll be that much sooner that we can start a life together. You and me."

The thoughts and pictures he put in my head made me feel warm inside, but the realization that he had to leave me to do it was like ice water running through my veins and bones. I'd always loved Hogwarts, but with Fred gone…It had gotten to the point where I was afraid of walking through the corridors alone, afraid of being singled out by Umbridge or one of her followers. The thought of having another detention terrified me. If Fred was with me I could face anything, but not alone.

"Amber, look at me." Fred tilted my face up with his hand under my jaw. "I wish I could take you with me, but I couldn't do that to you. You need to be here to finish your schooling. But I'll write to you all the time, and you'll always have a place to stay at the flat above our store." He kissed me before I could speak, being gentle yet passionate at the same time. When he pulled away, I was too breathless to say anything.

"I love you, Amber." he whispered. I stopped breathing. He said it. Those three words that meant everything in the world. But then he kissed my forehead and left, leaving me alone in the dark, cold, empty classroom.

Later in the day, Fred and George caused all kinds of trouble, including turning a corridor into a swamp. Then the next day, they set off their Whiz-Bangs, which Fred had explained to me once, in the Great Hall while the fifth years were taking their OWLs. I'd been passing by with a few of my Charms classmates when Fred and George flew by overhead on their brooms. The other students chattered excitedly before hurrying after them to see what would happen. I'd never admit it out loud, but I probably hurried faster than the others.

By the time we got to the entrance to the Great Hall, chaos was everywhere. The twins' colorful firework creations were flying all over the Hall, exploding overhead and chasing students. Us six years barely got out of the way in time for the dragon-shaped Whiz-Bang to explode over Umbridge, shattering all her little decrees right off the wall.

The twins flew by on their brooms, right out of the castle. I followed the crowd outside to watch the twins, literally, leave with a bang.

Despite the anger and pain I felt at Fred's departure, and the fact that I hadn't had the chance to properly say goodbye, I couldn't help but smile as the sky lit up in color.

~*0*~

I was sat next to Katie and across from Ginny, eating my lunch quietly while they talked with their own friends. While I didn't have any friends I was as close to as I was Fred and George, their friends had made sure to talk to me and include me frequently since the twins' departure. I wasn't sure if they did this of their own accord, or if the twins asked them to, but I appreciated it anyway.

Ginny and I frequently studied together and had girl time with Hermione whenever we decided we needed it; Katie and Angelina talked with me a lot and we ate together; and Hermione and I attended as many Quidditch games as possible to support Katie, Angelina, and Ginny, who became Gryffindor's new Seeker when Harry, Fred, and George were banned by Umbridge.

A loud screech alerted everyone in the Great Hall that the mail had arrived. I looked up along with everyone else as owls of all shapes and sizes swooped into the room, some with notes so small you couldn't see them, and some with packages half the size of the owl carrying it.

I pulled my plate a bit closer to me to make a bit more room on the table when the familiar brown and white-speckled shape of Tiny became visible. As I predicted, Tiny landed gracefully on the space before me, folding her wings in and holding her beak to me, which held a small, white envelope. Her graceful landing was the opposite to Errol crashing into a bowl of potato salad in front of Ron down the table.

I laughed at Ron's expression while taking my mail from Tiny. Before I opened it I scratched her under her chin and fed her some crust from my sandwich, my usual routine.

Opening the envelope, the paper inside confused me for a moment, but as I read it, the small flash of pain dissolved into a happy warmth.

The rectangular piece of paper was horizontally long and purple, and in yellow letters across the top it said _"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes"_. Underneath the name, in slightly smaller, yellow letters, it said, _"This certificate entitles the holder to: a personal tour of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes on 93 Diagon Alley, one free product of her choosing, and a romantic evening with handsome Co-Owner Fredrick Weasley"._ Across the bottom of the paper, in small print, it added, _"This gift certificate can only be redeemed by someone who is smart; beautiful; funny; has wavy, brown hair and beautiful green eyes; and is named Amber" ._

I couldn't help laughing quietly to myself, putting my fingers to my mouth as I smiled at the paper. Fred had been writing me frequently since he and George left, and I'd read every single letter and stored them in my trunk to read whenever I felt like it. However, I hadn't written him back. While I did miss him, I was still a bit upset with him. Not as much as I was before, but I didn't want to write to him while still feeling even an ounce of resentment toward him, lest any bad feelings leaked through to him. Most of his letters were about how he and George were doing and frequently asking how I was doing, though lately he seemed to be pleading more for me to respond than anything else.

"I see my brother has finally got a smile out of you?" Ginny smirked at me, leaning forward on her elbows. I smiled back.

"Maybe."

 **OoOoOoO**

 **And that was year six! Let me know what you thought!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summer After Sixth Year**

Diagon Alley was much creepier with most of the shops closed and boarded up, broken windows everywhere and a few pedestrians here and there. I remember coming here every year with my mom to get my school supplies, and how crowded and lively it was. But now, even Ollivander's shop was closed. How would all the new first years get their wands?

But one place in all of Diagon Alley seemed to be thriving, despite all the surrounding shops being closed. It was like a splash of color in an old black-and-white muggle film.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was a tall, colorful shop, with a fixture of a grinning, red-haired man lifting his top hat. A rabbit was atop his head, but every other time he lowered his hat back on, the rabbit would be gone when he raised it again. Through the giant display windows I could see crowds of people, flashes of color and light, and things flying around over peoples' heads. The sight made me even more excited than I already was.

School had only let out a week ago, and I decided to drop in and spend my gift certificate. Of course, I hadn't given Fred a heads-up. Ginny only knew I would be stopping in sometime during the summer, so even if she did spill to Fred, that was a three month time gap.

I opened the front door, weaving my way through the huge crowds and looking around. The shop was pretty small, but they put in multiple stairways so that there were three floors, and balconies around the walls higher up. Things were flying around above my head, and there was a pink doll on a tight rope that looked like Umbridge.

Seeing a display of familiar boxes at a nearby wall, I walked through the crowd and picked up a Skiving Snackbox, a thoughtful smile sliding onto my face at all the memories from just this one product.

"There anything in particular you're looking for?" a familiar voice asked from behind me, and I could hear the grin in his voice. I looked over my shoulder at the smiling redhead, who was wearing a magenta dress robe with a tie that had a flashing red light. I put the Skiving Snackbox back on the shelf and turned to face him, pulling the certificate out of my shoulder bag.

"Well, I got this gift certificate in the mail, and I figured I'd stop in and see what it was all about." I explained playfully, holding the piece of paper in both hands, "You don't happen to know this Fredrick Weasley by any chance, do you?"

The redhead looked up thoughtfully, crossing his arms and stroking his chin with one hand. "You know, that name does ring a bell…I believe I may have shared a womb with him for about nine months…and then maybe a bedroom for like seventeen years or something…"

I grinned and a laugh escaped me as George continued. He grinned down at me before opening his arms and yanking me into a tight hug, lifting me off the ground.

"Man we missed you, Amber." he muttered, placing me back on my feet. "Freddie's been absolutely miserable without you."

My grin immediately fell and I looked down at the paper in my hands again.

"Yeah, I kinda figured from what I read in his letters." I muttered quietly.

"How come you never wrote back? All we heard about you was what Ginny told us in her letters." George inquired gently, moving closer to the wall to get away from all the customers and to hear me better.

I sighed. "I was still a bit upset with him, and I didn't want to write to him while I was still mad. I didn't want any of that to come through in my letters. I didn't want to taint your guys' dream." I answered, looking around at the amazing shop I was standing in.

"Come on, Amber. You really think you could taint a place like this?" George asked, spreading his arms out to gesture around him. "It would take a lot more than a letter to taint this."

I smiled slightly. "I suppose so."

George grinned again. "Good. Now, come on. Lets go find that handsome brother of mine." he put his hand on my back to lead me through the crowd.

It was a miracle that George could maneuver us through the crowd without us getting bumped and jostled. Finally, one voice stood out among the excited chatter of customers, at least to me. A trio of students walked by in front of me, opening a path straight ahead, and I paused.

There, in the same magenta robe as George, his red hair cropped short, and his charming business-like grin in place, was Fred; talking with a mother and her son, no doubt trying to convince them to buy the Fanged Frisbee in the boy's hands.

My breath caught and I couldn't swallow or move. I missed him like crazy, and finally seeing him after only a few months, especially right at home in his new shop, was like a breath of fresh air. Like stepping out of a dusty old cottage into a beautiful spring day.

I had absolutely no idea how to approach him, what I would say. I'd imagined I'd either make a witty remark or had a sappy reunion, but now I had no idea what to say or do. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, George took care of that problem for me.

"Hey Freddie!" George shouted, pushing me forward a couple steps. I stumbled and my eyes went wide as Fred looked toward his twin. When his eyes traveled to me, his charming grin dropped, his lips parting slightly, and his eyes went a bit wide.

I had no idea what to do, so I nervously licked my lips and offered him a shaky smile, wrapping my arms around my stomach.

In just a few long strides, Fred grabbed me up in a hug, holding me tightly but gently to his chest. My arms came up around his neck, and I held him so tightly I was sure I was choking him. He didn't seem to mind since he was clutching me just as hard.

"You're here. You're really here." he whispered shakily, his face pressed to my neck. Over his shoulder I saw George go tend to the confused customer and her son before I buried my face into Fred's neck, one of my hands fisting his short hair. After several moments, I felt Fred slowly release his grip, letting my body slide to the floor, though he didn't completely let go. His hands gripped my hips, bringing me forward to kiss me fiercely.

Hearing a little kid yell 'ew' in the background, I figured we could save the romantic aspect of our reunion for later when we were alone. I pulled away slowly, wrapping my arms around his back and resting the side of my head on his chest while his arms slid around the small of my back.

"I missed you." he murmured, kissing my hair.

I smiled and pulled away, looking up at him. "I missed you, too. I'm really sorry I didn't write back to you." I said guiltily, crossing my arms over my stomach again. "I just…I was afraid if I started writing a letter to you, it would turn into me yelling at you and…I didn't want to do that."

Fred smiled and shrugged. "It's fine. I mean, now that I know why, it's fine. I was freaking out for a while, wondering if maybe Umbridge was intercepting our mail or something."

I shook my head, "No, I got all your letters, their currently in my bedroom back home on my bedside table to read whenever I feel like it." he smiled at that. "Anyway, when's this tour I'm supposed to get?" I asked playfully, holding up the certificate again.

Fred grinned. "Right now, if you're up to it?" he asked eagerly.

"Don't you have to help your brother?" I asked worriedly.

Fred shook his head. "Nah, the crowd'll die down in an hour or two, besides, I'll be around if anyone actually does need me. And we've got Verity working the register, we hired her just before we opened. Actually, we've been getting such great business we might have to hire another person just so one of us can get a break once in a while."

I smiled. "Well, I'm really glad everything's going so great. Walking here was kinda depressing with all the shops closed."

Fred nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know. I really miss all those shops, a lot of my childhood came from this place. My broomstick came from 2nd Hand Brooms down the lane, and George, Lee, and I used to buy fireworks from Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop." He shook his head and smiled again. "Anyway, enough of this sappiness. I'm showing you around." with that, he took my hand and led me around the shop.

Despite looking out of control and chaotic, there was actually some order to how everything was set up. All the products were slit up into different sections.

Obviously there was the joke products, which included things like the Boxing Telescope, Nose-Biting Teacup, and the Electric Shock Shake. Then there were the Explosive Enterprises; such as Dragon Fire, Exploding Whizz Poppers, Demon Dung Crackers, and the ever popular Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. The twins also included a Muggle Magic section, which wasn't as popular, but people like the twins' dad, Arthur Weasley, liked it. It included products like Unbreakable Eggs, Mary's Magic Mice, and Soldiers on Parade. They had a Sweets section that included Canary Creams, Ton-Tongue Toffee, and of course Skiving snack boxes. There was even a more serious section of Defense objects like Decoy Detonators and Shield clothing such as hats, cloaks, and gloves. The last section Fred brought me to was almost blindingly pink, and contained WonderWitch products, things Fred and George invented for witches only. It contained things like Cupid Crystals, Love Potions, Calamity Lotion, and Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher. As I walked through this section with Fred, I felt extremely awkward and out of place.

My arms were crossed over my stomach again as I followed Fred around the pink section, my eyes taking in everything around me until they fell on a wooden shelf. Sitting on the shelves and hanging off the sides were small cages that looked similar to the cage I keep Tiny in. Taking a closer look, I saw tiny balls of pink or purple fluff inside all the cages. I walked closer, glancing at the sign that said 'Pygmy Puffs' as I approached the shelf where a few cages were lined up side by side.

I was staring at one of the pink fluff balls when it twitched. I jumped, staring wide-eyed as the ball turned and peaked a pair of blue eyes out at me, along with a tiny, light pink face. The other fluff balls turned and peaked at me as well. I found myself smiling as they all started making cute squeaking sounds.

Someone came up beside me and a familiar arm dropped over my shoulders.

"I see you've found our little Pygmy Puffs." Fred commented.

"What are they?" I asked curiously, putting my finger near one of the cages for a purple Pygmy Puff to sniff.

"They're miniature Puffskeins. Cute little guys, friendly, loyal, social, and can eat anything, really. George and I breed them in the back."

"Isn't that illegal?" I asked doubtfully, looking up at him.

"Nope. George and I have a special license to breed them."

"Okay. Good." I answered, looking back at the cage to see that the purple Puff was sticking its nose through the cage bars, its tiny tongue flicking out to lick my finger. I giggled, sticking my finger through the bars to scratch its head. It made happy squeaking sounds, leaning as far up into my finger as it could.

"He likes you." Fred smiled, squeezing my shoulder. "You can have him if you want. Your certificate says one free item, and these little guys could count."

I smiled at the thought, already in love with the little purple Pygmy Puff before me. Then I frowned as I thought about how I'd be able to keep him.

"I don't think I should, Fred. I mean, I'll be going back to Hogwarts after summer, and Filch has banned all your products. He could get taken away from me."

"Actually, the ban doesn't include Pygmy Puffs, Ginny's taking her Puff she got recently, named Arnold." Fred answered with a smile.

"Still, I'd be in class most of the day, and I don't want to have to leave him alone in my room during that time. He deserves a better home than that." I explained sadly, watching as the little fluff ball rolled onto its back, letting me scratch his tummy.

Fred was quiet for a little while before speaking slowly, "What if someone could take care of him while you're at school?"

"I couldn't ask that of my parents, Fred." I answered, glancing up at him before looking back at the cage.

"I wasn't talking about your parents." I looked up at him, the Puff squeaking in protest when I stopped petting him. Fred shrugged. "I know how to take care of these guys better than just about anyone, he already knows me. I could keep him in the back room during the day while I'm in the shop, we keep some of the other Puffs back there so he could play with his own kind during the day, and I could check on him when its slow. And at night I can take him upstairs to live in the flat with me and George. It couldn't get much better than that, right?"

I looked up at him quietly for a moment. "You mean…you want to take care of him for me while I'm in school?"

Fred nodded. "Yeah. And on breaks you can come get him and keep him at your place before you go back to school."

I looked back at the Puff and petted him, biting my lip. "Getting a pet together…that's a big step for a couple, don't ya think?" I asked lightly, looking back up at him to watch his reaction.

He grinned at me, lowering his arm to wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "I think we're ready for that step." he answered easily.

I smiled, happy with his answer. Leaning up, I kissed him briefly before turning back to the cage. "Okay, I pick this one."

Fred laughed. "I kinda figured, Ber." he picked up the cage for me, even though I could've carried it myself, and lead the way through the store. "What are you going to name him?" Fred asked me, looking down at me as we walked. "And if you name him something like _Fluffy_ , just like you named your poor owl Tiny, I'll have to name him for you."

I laughed, taking his free hand in mine as I examined the little creature in the cage on the other side of his leg. "What about…Muffin?" I asked weakly.

Fred looked down at me for a moment. "Muffin? Really?"

"What's wrong with it?" I asked incredulously.

Fred shrugged. "I'm not saying anything's wrong with it, I just didn't expect it. Muffin's a fine name."

"Thank you." I smiled sweetly up at him.

I spent the next hour or so hanging out in the backroom playing with Muffin. I told Fred to help his brother with the shop, and whenever he was ready we could go spend the evening together. He said that he'd just help them out until the shop was closed, and then George and Verity could deal with closing up the shop since there wouldn't be too much to do.

George locked the door and switched on the closed sign behind the last customer. Fred bid both his brother and Verity goodnight before leading me up to the flat above the shop.

After giving me a brief tour and letting Muffin out of her cage to wander a bit, though she preferred staying in the same room as us, Fred led me into the kitchen.

"So, I promised you a romantic evening, so I'm making a romantic dinner for us. However, spaghetti is annoyingly uncreative, and I'm not a very good cook. Fortunately!" he turned and pulled a small book from the cabinet behind him while I sat at the kitchen table. He held it up for me to see. "Mum threw this book together with a bunch of her recipes, going in order from easier recipes to more difficult ones. How does chicken fettuccini sound?"

My stomach grumbled at the thought. "Mmm. Sounds good. What can I do to help?"

"No no, you aren't helping. _I'm_ treating _you_. You just relax. We can talk while I cook, I've actually made this dish before, so it's pretty easy." knowing his stubbornness wouldn't allow me to help, I agreed to sit and watch. Being a wizard, he was able to cook the noodles, chicken, and sauce in pots and pans on the stove at the same time, charming the spoons and spatula to do most of the work. We talked while he cooked, catching up on everything we'd missed out in each others lives during the few months we were apart.

When it was done, taking only about twenty minutes, we sat across from each other, each with a plate of the delicious-smelling pasta and a glass of lemonade.

My first bite, I closed my eyes and hummed at the creamy flavor.

"That good, huh?" Fred asked with a laugh. I blushed and opened my eyes, tilting my face down.

"It's delicious, thank you." I murmured quietly, smiling at him.

We talked and laughed as we ate, and Fred flirted and teased me, I tried to flirt back, but of course failed and ended up sounding stupid. Fred didn't seem to mind, though, in fact he just laughed and kept on talking and joking. The pasta was so good I ended up eating seconds and Fred thirds until all of it was gone.

I placed my dish in the sink and was about to start on washing the dishes, since it was habit from home to do those chores "the Muggle way", but I was stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around my waist and holding me.

"You can leave the dishes to wash themselves, Love. I want as much time with you as I can get tonight." Fred whispered in my ear, kissing my cheek before resting his chin on my shoulder. I smiled at the new nickname, leaning my head against the side of his. The "L" word suddenly reminded me of the last thing Fred had said to me before he left Hogwarts. He'd told me he loved me, and I'd never had the chance to say it back.

Fred flicked his wand over my shoulder and the dishes started washing themselves, before he pulled me out of the kitchen into the living room. As we sat curled up on the sofa, I took the moment of silence to think a few things over.

A lot of people nowadays didn't take the topic of 'Love' very seriously. They date someone for a month and suddenly they're in love. But to me, trust is a huge part of loving someone, and it's also one of the things I struggle with the most. But I know I trust Fred more than anyone, maybe even my own parents, and he's been my best friend for the past five years, and we'd been in a relationship for about six months, but surely that was too soon to be saying the big three words, right?

Warm breath and a slight pressure against my lips broke me out of my thoughts. I closed my eyes for several moments of pure bliss before Fred pulled away and I opened my eyes. He was looking down at me from where I was leaning into his chest, his arms wrapped loosely around me.

"Got something on your mind?" he inquired gently.

I opened my mouth, and I think I lost connection between my brain and mouth. Despite the huge debate that had been swirling about in my mind, I knew only one thing for certain.

"I love you."

Fred stared at me with wide eyes for several seconds.

"Really?" he whispered.

I blushed and looked down, nodding. He gently grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger, turning my face up to him.

"When I told you that I love you before I left, I meant it, and I wanted you to know it before I left. I'd hoped it would reassure you that I wasn't actually leaving you. I never expected you to say it back, I know you don't trust very easily, and I would never _ever_ pressure you into doing or saying anything before you're ready. I would sooner prefer you not say it back at all, than for you to say it before you were ready or if you didn't mean it. I truly do love you, Amber, but I'm not expecting you to say it back unless you're ready." Fred explained sincerely, and I felt my eyes tear up. One tear slipped down my cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb.

"I am ready, Fred. I didn't know for sure if I was or not, but now I am. I don't know what I'd ever do without you, and I don't even want to entertain the idea of a life without you in it. I love you, Fred."

A huge grin broke over Fred's face. Then he turned me to him and started peppering my whole face with kisses, making me giggle. He pulled me even closer to him and suddenly I fell back into the couch with him over me, tickling my ribs with his fingers and kissing all over my face, neck, and shoulders.

"I love you, Amber. I love you so much." he whispered passionately, kissing me frantically like he'd never get another chance.

"I love you, too." I murmured, kissing him back.

 **OoOoOoO**

 **This chapter wasn't as long as the other ones, but I didn't want this part to be connected to the next one, which will be around the time of Bill and Fleur's wedding, about a year after this part. The next part won't be too long, either, but I'm sure you guys won't mind. Let me know what you're all thinking!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Summer after Seventh Year**

My mind was a thousand miles away as I dried the plate with the ragged hand towel. A lot had happened in the year since I first visited Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. While I lived at home during that summer with my parents I visited the shop almost daily, to the point Fred and George offered me a job there during the summer. I accepted, of course, but it also lead to George repeatedly making comments along the lines of me "sleeping with my boss". Which didn't happen! No, despite loving each other, Fred and I both agreed we didn't want to move too fast and risk ruining what we had. We were best friends first and foremost, and we weren't going to ruin that due to rash teenage hormones.

When the school year started I kept up my studies to keep myself busy, but Fred and I wrote as often as we could. I also took up an assistance position with Professor McGonagall, helping her grade papers for younger students and such. Then on breaks I went home to be with my parents and worked at the shop with the twins a few times a week.

But I certainly wasn't expecting my final year at Hogwarts to end the way that it did. Seeing Professor Dumbledore, the wise headmaster who I'd looked up to from the moment I met him, lying dead on the ground with Harry Potter crying over him, it was devastating for everyone.

Now it's a couple months later, nearing the end of the summer. Of course I'd worked at WWW during the summer again, and spent a lot of time divided between my parents and the Weasley family, who treated me like another daughter. I also became close with Hermione, who spent a lot of time at the Burrow as well.

My parents had once mentioned that I should consider avoiding a place that sheltered Harry Potter so frequently, not because they didn't support him, because they do, but they didn't want me to be targeted because I may be considered affiliated with him. It was simply my parents being protective of their only daughter, and they knew it was a pointless argument.

I also spent the time trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I'd thought about maybe getting some kind of job either writing for the Prophet, or maybe an Internship in the Ministry. But after realizing that Death Eaters were all over the place, I figured it'd be best to lay low and avoid those kinds of places.

This brings me to why I'm currently drying plates the Muggle way, with my mind a million miles away.

I was staying at the Burrow to help with the wedding, I was currently with Molly and Ginny, and we were doing what we could to take our minds off what was currently happening.

Several people, including a good portion of the Weasley clan, were picking Harry up from his home in Surrey and bringing him here. Apparently his birthday was coming up soon and they wanted to pick him up before the protective spells on the house disappeared on his birthday. They were going in pairs, where the half that were taking Polyjuice Potion were paired up with someone who wasn't, that way it'd be harder for any Death Eaters to be able to tell which one was Harry.

Of course, I was panicking. Fred was one of the people who volunteered to be a Harry decoy, which meant he was one of the people who would be targeted.

The telltale crash of someone arriving made me, Molly, and Ginny hurry out of the house. I stopped when I realized the boy was the real Harry. Hagrid explained that the Death Eaters were on them from the start and everyone got split up.

The next people to arrive was Remus, practically carrying a Harry copy with a bloodied ear. The boy transformed before our eyes as they entered the house. I held my breath when I saw his hair turning red, but then let it out when I saw that his cheek bones weren't as high, and his nose was different. It was George.

They lowered him onto the sofa and Molly hurried to comfort her son. Wanting to be of some use, I summoned a bowl of water and a rag to me, carrying it over to sit on the edge of the couch beside George. He was unconscious at the moment, with blood coming from a gaping hole where his ear was supposed to be, the red liquid running down his neck and staining his shirt and jacket. I gently wiped some of the blood away from his neck with the damp cloth as Molly stroked his hair back. We ignored Remus checking that Harry was the real Harry, since apparently they'd been betrayed.

A _Crack_ signaling Apparation made most of the people in the house run outside. After another one I became distracted, glancing anxiously over my shoulder a few times to see if Fred was entering the house. I knew George was more important, but I also knew there was a good chance someone could've gotten more injured than him, even killed.

"Here, dear." I turned to Molly as she took the bowl from me. She gave me a sad smile and nodded toward the door, signaling that I could go check. I smiled gratefully at her before hurrying outside. Just as I was approaching Remus and Tonks, another _Crack_ sounded and Fred and Arthur showed up.

Tears burned my eyes and I bolted forward, slamming my body into Fred and holding him tight. Fred clutched me to him, burying his nose in my hair.

After a moment, I pulled back and brought my hands to his face, running them over his cheeks, and I couldn't help checking that both his ears were intact. Fred looked down at me in confusion, clearly wondering what was going on.

I opened my mouth, unsure what to say to him about his brother. He must've seen something in my eyes, because he suddenly looked around at all the people watching us. The few of them that knew about George were giving him sad looks.

"Where's George?" he asked quietly, seeing that his twin was missing. He looked back down at me, and I silently moved out of his way. He gave me one more look before he raced inside. I followed quickly, wanting to be there to comfort him in any way I could.

Seeing him drop to his knees beside the couch, staring down at his bloodied twin as Molly continued running her hands through his hair and dabbing at the blood, I thought my heart would break. I silently came up to stand behind him, resting my hand on his shoulder so he knew I was there for him.

Everyone else entered the room, but I hardly noticed them. Everyone was silent as they watched the exchange between the twins.

"How ya feelin', Georgie?" Fred asked quietly.

George swallowed before answering in the quietest whisper, "Saint-like."

"Come again?" Fred asked so quietly you couldn't really hear the confusion he felt at the answer. I myself didn't know what to think of it either, apart from being worried about the implications. Did he feel like he was going to die, and thus become an angel or something?

"Saint-like." George answered a bit louder, his eyes opening to look up at his twin, "'M holey. I'm holey, Fred. Gettit'?" he pointed up at the bloodied hole where his ear used to be, a small smile tugging at his lips.

My shoulders sagged in relief and I smiled a bit when Fred joked back, shaking his head in amusement, "The whole wide world of ear-related humor, and you go for 'I'm holey'. That's pathetic."

"Reckon I'm still better looking than you." he joked back.

"That's debatable." I answered quietly to myself, but George's eyes switched to look at me.

"Don't lie, Amber. You know, deep down you'd rather sleep with your other, better-looking boss." he joked, earning snickers from the whole room, including Fred.

My face went up in flames and I glared weakly down at him. He seriously had to make that joke when both Fred's parents, and a good portion of his siblings were in the room? "For the hundredth time, no we're not." I grumbled, just loud enough for the whole room to hear, not wanting anyone to think that was the case. "That's the thanks I get for helping you. Next time you get a body part blasted off, don't ask me to clean the blood for you, Weasley."

George glanced up at his mom and she nodded, answering silently that what I'd said was true. I really shouldn't have actually thought he'd thank me for that, I should've known him better.

"You don't need to suck up to me to get a promotion, Amber. You're already doing that to Freddie."

Everyone laughed again while I rolled my eyes at him, but I could see that smile and thankful glint in his tired eyes. I smiled back, showing him I understood his silent 'thank you'.

The mood was severely dampened after that when Bill stepped forward and announced that Mad-Eye had died. After that everyone was subdued and split off into groups around the house.

I stayed in the living room with Fred and Molly, keeping George company. As the night wore on and everyone retired to the several shared rooms about the house, Fred volunteered to sleep in the living room to keep on eye on George so Molly could go to sleep. I stayed with them and transfigured one of the arm chairs into a cot just big enough for me and Fred to fit on it together.

We pushed the small coffee table off to the side so the cot could be beside the couch where George was fast asleep.

We cuddled up together on the small cot, Fred's arms wrapped around me and my head on his chest, under his chin. He buried his face in the hair on top of my head.

"Thank you." he murmured into my hair. I opened my eyes and stared ahead of me.

"For what?"

"For helping with George, and for staying with me. I really needed that. Thank you."

I smiled, closing my eyes and pressing my head under his chin more. "You don't need to thank me, Fred. I just wanted to do something to help that would keep my mind off the fact that it could've been you. And there was no way I was leaving you to deal with it alone. Besides, George is one of my best friends, and has kind of become like an older brother to me. Granted, an annoying older brother that likes to make jokes at my expense, but a brother nonetheless." Fred laughed at that answer, burying his face into my hair to muffle his laughter.

"I'm sure he'd love to hear that. He'd say his mission was accomplished." Fred joked, running one hand up and down my back. "I love you, Ber, and tonight just made me fall in love with you even more. Get some sleep, Love." he kissed my forehead and I smiled, already feeling sleep closing in on me.

~*0*~

The morning of the wedding was mostly spent with the girls getting themselves ready and the guys getting everything set up. I opted to wear a simple, light blue sundress, and curled my hair in big curls, pinning the front strands back from my face.

My parents arrived with the guests less than an hour before the wedding. My parents and Fred's parents had become friends of sorts since they met at the train station a few years back, and Molly asked Bill to invite them. After greeting them happily and allowing them to fuss over me for a moment, since they'd heard what happened to George and Mad-Eye, I allowed Fred and George to escort them to their seats, since that was their job for the wedding.

The guests were split up so that those on the groom's side were on the right of the isle, and those on the bride's side were on the left. Close family and relations were seated in the front. I'd only had a handful of conversations with Fleur, and I didn't dislike her like Ginny did, but we weren't overly close. Being part Veela, she naturally made me feel a bit self-conscious, but I got along with her. I knew Bill from meeting him a few years back, as well as getting to know him while staying at the Burrow for a while. We weren't as close as I was to some of the other Weasley siblings, so I wouldn't have thought I'd be placed in the front, I figured I'd sit several rows back with my parents or something. But apparently Fred insisted that, since I was his date, I should sit in the front with him.

Charlie was standing beside Bill as his Best Man. Fred explained to me that Bill and Fleur had agreed on choosing two people each to stand beside them, Fleur picking her sister Gabrielle and Ginny, and Bill picked Charlie, since they were closest as kids, and he had thought about asking Percy to stand with him as well. But after all the things Percy had been doing lately, he had reconsidered, especially after Percy didn't visit Arthur while he was in the hospital after being attacked by Voldemort's snake. Percy was still invited, but it appeared he didn't plan on attending. I'd asked Fred why Bill didn't choose another one of his brothers, or a close friend, and Fred answered that Bill had explained his next choice would've been either Fred or George, and he didn't want to choose between them, so he'd decided to just have Charlie stand with him.

After the wedding, I was sat at a table with Fred, George, and a few people I didn't know. Last time I was at a wedding was a Muggle second cousin on my dad's side, and I spent a majority of the reception sitting with my parents at the table making awkward conversation with a family member I'd never met who kept commenting on how much I'd grown. Luckily this wedding was different.

Fred kept me on the dance floor a lot of the time, when he wasn't "showing me off" to some of his relatives.

On one of our trips to the punch table, we were intercepted Luna Lovegood and a strangely dressed man who must've been her father.

"My goodness, you wouldn't happen to be Amber Carter, would you?" he asked me. Fred and I exchanged a mildly confused glance before I turned back to the man.

"I am, Sir." I answered, offering my free hand for him to shake. He took it in a firm grip.

"Wonderful to meet you, dear. My name's Xenophilius Lovegood, editor of The Quibbler. I loved your article on Umbridge's unlawful techniques. Horrible woman she was, glad she's no longer to be anywhere near my daughter. Many other parents were contacting both The Quibbler and Hogwarts just after publication to demand answers on whether she had been removed from the school, as well as threatening to take their kids out of school if she was still there."

I nodded along with him, my face burning red in embarrassment. Fred staring at me wasn't helping anything.

"Anyway, what I came over here was to offer you a job at The Quibbler." my mouth fell open before he continued, "Of course, your first year or so would be an internship, for you to learn the ropes so to speak, and then possibly a writer?" he questioned hopefully.

My mouth hung open for several moments before Fred nudged my arm with his elbow, coughing to get my attention. I closed my mouth quickly and cleared my throat.

"Um, well, could I think about it for a while and get back to you, Mr. Lovegood?" I asked quietly.

"Oh, of course! I wouldn't expect you to answer right away, uncertain times we're in, Ms. Carter. Take your time to think it over and get back to me. Just send me an owl or something. Have a good evening." with that he and his daughter turned to leave.

Fred tugged my hand to turn me towards him. "What the bloody hell was that all about?" he asked, completely bewildered.

I bit my lip and looked at my feet as I answered, "Well, a while after you and George left Hogwarts, I was bored and wrote a sort of…mock news article about Umbridge. Well, just after she was removed from Hogwarts the paper I'd wrote it on fell out of my book bag and Professor McGonagall read it. She asked if she could send it to be published. She didn't send it to the Prophet because she knew they'd never publish something that technically spoke against the Ministry, so she sent it to The Quibbler."

I felt like Fred's stare was going to burn a whole in my forehead before his knuckle pushed my chin upward to look at him. "You mean to tell me you're a published writer and you never told me?" he asked, a smile breaking out over his face. I smiled in embarrassment and nodded. He barked a laughed before scooped me up in a hug and spinning me in circles. People stared at us until he set me back on my feet.

"You better accept that job, it's a huge deal, Ber!" Fred insisted excitedly.

I laughed. "I'll think about it, I promise."

Fred kissed my cheek. "Good. Now come on, I want to dance with my accomplished writer." he took my hand and tugged me out onto the dance floor where several others were dancing.

When we came to a slow song, Fred pulled my body flush with his, one of his arms wrapped around my lower back, the other one holding my hand down near our waists, and my other hand hanging over his shoulder. I rested my cheek on his chest under his shoulder. As we slowly turned in circles, swaying to the music, I spotted George across the tent talking with a charming grin to a group of Fleur's Veela cousins. I grinned.

"I'm surprised you aren't flirting it up with all those pretty Veelas with George." I teased.

Fred snorted. "I'd hardly call it flirting, he's playing up that ear to earn some points with 'em. Besides," he paused to dip me, making me laugh with shock, moving to wrap both my hands around his neck. He slowly pulled me back up, pressing his forehead to mine, "I've got my own pretty girl, I don't need to flirt with any of them."

I grinned in approval, briefly kissing him as we started dancing again. "Good answer, Weasley."

Fred looked like he was going to say something else when there was a flash of light, causing people to gasp and scream in shock. We stopped and turned to see a Patronus standing in the middle of the dance floor.

"The Minister is dead. The Ministry has fallen. They're coming."

With that message, several Death Eaters blasted into the tent, sending the guests into chaos.

Fred grabbed my hand and dragged me through the frantic crowd. I didn't know where we were going until I saw my parents. Fear seized my heart. My dad's a Muggle. He couldn't be here, surrounded by followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!

When we were near my parents, Fred turned me to look at him, placing his hands on my cheeks to force me to look at him.

"Don't contact me, wait for me to contact you. Don't come back here, they'll be watching this place. Go with your parents, keep a low profile, and stay safe, okay?" I nodded, looking up at him with fear in my eyes. "I love you, Amber Carter."

"I love you, Fred." I answered. Fred kissed me firmly on the lips before pushing me to my parents. Before I could look back at him, my mom grabbed my hand and Apparated us away.

~*0*~

I spent the next few months with my parents. We had decided to move to a new house in a Muggle part of London, hoping to at least keep my father hidden. After much debate and some compromising, I accepted the job at The Quibbler. The compromises, which they were more than happy to accept given my family situation and the danger we were in because I was a Half-Blood, were that I would go to the office to work one day out of the week, to learn the office and intern aspects of the job, there I'd get a couple assignments to write on, then I'd work on them at home, and near the end of the week someone would either send an owl to retrieve them, or if it was particularly dangerous someone would Apparate to my house to pick them up.

All I ever really heard about from Fred and anyone else was the occasional owl I'd get, just to keep me posted on everything, my main source was listening to Potterwatch, the radio show Fred, George, and their friend Lee started to keep people posted on what was really going on. Other than that, I had no way of contacting him. He never told me where he was, and he moved around a lot to avoid being caught, since he's a blood traitor, so I could keep up on his news, but he had really no idea what was going on with me. However, a couple times in his letters he mentioned reading one of my articles in The Quibbler and telling me how good it was and that he was proud of me.

However, his notes and hearing his voice on the radio did little to quell my fear for his safety, or fears of the war in general.

 **OoOoOoO**

 **Hope everyone liked that chapter, it was a bit short, like the last one, but I like how it turned out. Please review and let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Year after Seventh**

I stared blankly at the small wireless radio on the bedside table, curled up on the small bed with the giant quilt wrapped around my body up to my chin. The static and voices coming from the radio offered a small comfort in the spare bedroom of Shell Cottage as Fred, Lee, and George did the latest Potterwatch episode.

" _It is with great regret that we inform our listeners of the murder of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell. A goblin by the name of Gornuk was also killed. It is believed that Muggle-born Dean Thomas and a second goblin, both believed to be traveling with Tonks, Cresswell, and Gornuk may have escaped. If Dean is listening, your parents and sisters are pretty desperate for news. It was also learned this morning that late last night a Half-Blood witch and her husband, a Muggle, were murdered at the hands of Snatchers. We ask for a moment of silence for,"_ I heard Fred's breath hitch as he paused for a moment, _"Bridget and Murphy Carter."_ his voice wavered on their last name, and I closed my eyes as pain sliced through my chest, burying my face in the pillow as fresh tears poured from my eyes.

I didn't know how long the silence lasted, but it must've been longer than normal, because someone cleared their throat before George's voice spoke through the radio. _"We have to go off the air now, keep your eyes open everyone, and we'll keep you up to date next time. The next password is Prewett."_

Their voices disappeared and I laid in silence for a long time, but at the same time it felt like a few moments. Time just seemed to stop as I relived last nights events over and over in my mind. I hadn't slept since it happened, despite Fleur trying to convince me to. I just couldn't.

It could've been hours later, or just minutes, but loud voices from downstairs drew my attention to the door.

 _"-shouldn't be here. You're putting a lot of us at risk in coming. When they told you she was here, you should've trusted that she was safe."_ Bill's voice was explaining.

 _"There's a difference between being safe and being okay, Bill."_ Fred's voice made my heart clench. I hadn't heard his voice so clear and close in months, _"She just lost her parents, I want to check on her! Please!"_ his last word was a desperate plea, and I knew even if Bill didn't give in, Fleur would make him.

 _"Okay, she's in the first spare room, she wanted to listen to your show on the wireless. You can go check on her, but you shouldn't stay longer than necessary, otherwise this place won't be as safe as we'd like it to be."_

I didn't hear Fred reply, but I did hear his footsteps slowly getting louder as he approached the door.

The hinges creaked as the door peaked open. A familiar redhead stuck his head inside, but my face remained blank. Any other day, I'd have jumped up, tackled him, and snogged him senseless. But I just didn't have it in me.

Fred entered the room completely and closed the door behind him. He was dressed in a jacket, dark sweater, and jeans. He approached slowly before sitting down on the edge of the bed, facing me.

"Hey." he whispered, taking my hand in his.

"Hi." I whispered back, not even trying to smile.

Fred looked over at the wireless radio that was playing soft music now before looking back down at me. "Bill said you were listening to our show." I nodded. "So…you heard me?" he asked cautiously. Again, I nodded, not looking at him. "You wanna tell me what happened?" he asked gently, afraid to set me off.

Tears immediately sprung to my eyes and I tried to sit up. As if reading my mind, Fred pulled me up and into him, cradling me to his body as I sobbed into his shoulder, rocking us back and forth and whispering softly in my ear. After a while I managed to calm down enough to try and speak.

"I-I was in m-my room. The doorbell rang, and my dad answered the door. I heard a l-loud bang and me and my mum went to the living room. The-there were three snatchers, one was holding my-my dad and had his wand at my dad's throat. They st-started lecturing my mum about not going into the Ministry to register me and herself as Half-Bloods. And then they said that they'd have to k-kill my father as punishment, since he was a l-lowly Muggle! And that he knew too much." I started sobbing, hearing my mother's desperate pleas to spare my father's life. Fred lifted me into his lap and cradled me to his chest as he started rocking again.

I forced my breathing to slow down, taking deep breaths until I felt I could talk again.

"Everything happened so fast. Th-they killed my dad. My mom went crazy. She stunned all of them before they could kill us, and then she was hurrying around, I was just staring at my dad's body." I clenched my eyes shut, seeing my dad's broken, lifeless body sprawled on the floor. "She…let Tiny out of her cage, and she flew out the window. Then my mum shoved my wand into my hand and told me to leave. I could see them waking up. One of them reached for his wand. I didn't want to leave, I tried to argue, but she yelled at me, told me I had to leave, to go s-somewhere safe!" I was hyperventilating as I tried to continue, Fred's hand rubbing circles on my back, "So, I Apparated. The last thing I saw and heard was one of the snatchers yell out 'Avada Kedavra', there was a flash of green light. My mum screamed, and then I was gone." my voice fell to a whisper on the last sentence, my throat closing up again as my mum's scream echoed in my head.

"So, you came here?" Fred asked quietly.

I shook my head. "No. I had no idea how to get here. I know you told me not to go there, but when my mum said somewhere safe, the Burrow was the first place that came to mind. I'd already Apparated by the time I realized where I was going. Your mum and dad were there, and helped me. Then your dad brought me here, since no Death Eaters know about this place. Bill and Fleur have been taking care of me."

Fred sighed, pulling me closer to his chest and kissing the top of my head. "As soon as I read their names, I was terrified. I didn't know if you were missing or escaped. George had to take over, I didn't know what to do or say."

"I could tell. You need to be more careful, Fred." I found myself scolding him, "If someone heard you then, they could've made the connection. If the wrong people find out you're involved in Potterwatch, you could get hurt or killed."

Fred sighed. "I know that, but it's not like I was prepared to read your parents names." he sighed again, resting his chin on my head. "You know, through all of this I never really realized how much danger the people I know are in. I mean, I already know Ron, Harry, and Hermione are in danger, that's a given. But even with all these people, Half-Bloods and Muggle-Borns, getting taken in and murdered and arrested, I never really took into account how much danger _you_ are in. I always thought you'd be in danger only because of your connection to me, a blood traitor, but you're also in danger because of your parentage."

I nodded slowly, taking in his words. I already knew about all that, hearing about Half-Bloods and Muggle-Borns being taken in for questioning and registration, some of them being murdered. But then something Fred said stood out to me. He said he thought I'd only be in danger because of him.

"Fred?" I whispered, "If it wasn't for my blood status putting me in additional danger, would you…you wouldn't…"

"What?" Fred asked in confusion.

"Well, you wouldn't…leave me, to keep me safe or whatever…would you?" I asked weakly.

Fred hurriedly pushed me at arms length, griping my shoulders as he stared into my eyes. "No! No, absolutely not! Yes, I want to keep you safe, but breaking up with you wouldn't do that! I'm not daft enough to believe they'd leave you alone if I broke ties with you, they'd know I'd still care about you, even if I left you. And I wouldn't put you through that pain, I'd never do that to you, Amber. I love you too much to do that."

I sighed, releasing the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding as Fred pulled me back into a hug. I didn't know what I'd do if Fred had decided to break up with me, like guys always do in Muggle books and movies to protect their loved ones; it always pissed me off when that happened. It was cliché and always backfired. I'd already lost my parents, I couldn't bare to lose Fred, too.

"Good. I don't know where I'd be without you, Fred."

We sat like that for a while, just holding each other, which we hadn't been able to do for months. After a while Fred glanced at the clock on the far wall and sighed.

"I should get going soon. I just needed to check on you, I don't want to compromise this place." he explained reluctantly, and I found myself clutching his jacket in my fists.

"I don't want you to go." I whimpered, suddenly seeing flashes of Fred being killed like my parents, leaving me all alone. "Please, Fred."

He tensed at my weak, pleading voice, squeezing me to him tightly.

"Amber, you have no idea how much I want to stay here with you forever, but I have to go. Me and George have to do what we can for this war, we have to help out in some way. Bill and Fleur will take good care of you. Okay?" he leaned away to look down at me, wiping a tear off my cheek with his thumb.

I forced myself to swallow, nodding my head in consent as I pulled away to sit on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Fred turned and stuck his hand in his jacket pocket, pulling out something small, fluffy, and purple. A familiar squeak made me gasp, a slow smile pulling at my lips as Fred took my hand in his free one, holding my hand open to place the little fuzz ball in it. It turned so that a pair of bright blue eyes looked up at me.

"Muffin!" I squeaked, my voice breaking as I pulled him to my chest, hugging him as tight as I could without squishing him. He squeaked excitedly, reaching up to nuzzle my cheek, and I kissed the top of his head.

"After my dad said where you were we went to your house to check if there was anything we needed to save, and I found him in his cage in your room. Figured you'd miss him eventually." Fred explained, wrapping his arm around my waist as he watched me snuggle my little Pygmy Puff. I had forgotten about him with everything happening. If Tiny hadn't shown up at the Burrow while I was there I would've forgotten about her for a bit, too.

"Thank you so much, Fred!" I wrapped my arm around him in a hug, stretching up to press my face in his neck.

"No problem, Love. I think he missed you almost as much as I did." Fred joked, making me blush.

There was a brief knock on the door before Bill's voice floated through the door, "Fred, you may want to wrap it up. I don't need George popping in to check on you."

"I'll just be another minute, Bill." Fred called before turning back to me. My smile was still in place, but it was a bit sadder now, knowing Fred was leaving. "I'll try to keep in contact, but I can't make any promises, Ber. We've got to be careful, and I won't risk your safety just to write a letter. But I will see you, eventually, hopefully soon, okay?"

I nodded, and he leaned down to kiss me. It was a desperate, passionate kiss, knowing we wouldn't see each other for a while again.

We didn't pull away until there was another knock on the door. Fred looked into my eyes for several seconds before he kissed me on the forehead, whispered, "I love you." and left.

I curled back up in the bed, with Muffin clutched to my chest, and slowly managed to fall asleep.

~*0*~

I pulled my light blue Weasley sweater over my head, which I had received as a Christmas gift from Mrs. Weasley my sixth year, the year me and Fred started dating, and I pulled my thick hair back into a high ponytail. I was woken up about ten minutes ago to some voices downstairs, and Fleur had come up to briefly tell me that Ron, Harry, Hermione, and several others were here after barely escaping a bunch of Death Eaters. She didn't know the full story yet, she just wanted to let me know.

So, I hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, where several people looked up to greet me.

Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Ollivander were seated at the kitchen table drinking tea, all looking a bit disheveled. Fleur was at the counter doing something, and Bill wasn't in the room. While everyone else had their mugs seated on the table, Hermione was clutching hers in both hands close to her face, and she was wrapped in a large quilt. I could see her shivering under it, but I got the feeling she wasn't cold. Ron was sitting as close to her as he could get, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as he whispered comfortingly into her ear. Her eyes were a bit wide as she stared blankly ahead.

"Hello Amber." Luna greeted in her usual light voice.

"Hi Luna." I managed to give the blonde girl a smile before I turned to look worriedly at Hermione. Ron gave me a tight smile of greeting over her head, but my voice seemed to get through Hermione's daze. She turned and looked up at me, her slouched back straightening slightly.

"Amber?" she whispered. I smiled sadly at her. She glanced at Ron, who nodded, before she slowly set down her mug and stood up. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but when she was close enough she wrapped me in a tight hug, clinging to me. "I heard about your parents. I'm so sorry." she whispered into my shoulder. The familiar pang of being reminded stung my chest, but not as bad as when it was fresh. It had been a few months since my parents died, and while it still hurt I was definitely healing, slowly but surely. The Weasley's and the Order had decided it was too dangerous to try moving me, so I was staying with Bill and Fleur at Shell Cottage for the foreseeable future.

"Thanks, I'm getting better." I answered her before pulling away and giving her a concerned look. "So, no one told me how you all ended up here. You all look horrible. What happened?" I asked gently, worried I'd freak Hermione out.

As I suspected, she clenched her eyes shut and Ron was suddenly next to her, pulling her into him and whispering things in her ear about her being safe, and that she wasn't alone. Now I was confused.

Ron turned to me as he lead Hermione back to her seat. "We got captured by snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. A bunch of Death Eaters, including Bellatrix, were there. Long story short, Harry and I were taken down to a dungeon, where we found Luna, Ollivander, and a goblin being held captive, too. But…" he trailed off and glanced at Hermione, who nodded her consent. I got the feeling this was going to be bad. "Bellatrix tortured Hermione."

I swayed on my feet and braced my hand on the wall. I suddenly noticed that Hermione's sleeve had slid down and I could see 'Mudblood' was carved into her inner arm in blood red letters. My own arm twinged at the thought of what Hermione had endured. Many people in our large circle knew what happened to Neville's parents at the hands of Bellatrix in the last war.

I cleared my throat. "Then what happened?" I whispered.

"Dobby came and got us out, but as we were leaving, I guess Bellatrix threw a knife." he gave a sad look as he looked down at his hands on the table. "It got Dobby."

My throat closed. I'd only met Dobby a handful of times, but he was such a sweet little guy that you couldn't help but love him. And he died saving his friends, like a true hero.

"So he's…?" I trailed off, knowing the question was pointless.

Ron nodded. "Yeah. Harry's burying him now. He wanted to be alone."

I nodded in understanding.

"So, anyway, you got any updates on Fred or the rest of the family?" Ron asked hopefully. I took a seat at the table between Luna and Hermione.

"Nothing much. Fred and George are moving around so they can do Potterwatch. Your dad popped in a while back to check in on us and fill us in on some stuff. Your mom and brothers are fine, it sounds like. Oh, and Ginny and Neville are in charge of Dumbledore's Army at Hogwarts now." I remembered from a brief letter from Ginny that Arthur had delivered.

Ron grinned in pride at that.

We spent a while talking before everyone split up to get some sleep, given the night they had. We transfigured a few objects into other beds, so Luna and Hermione could sleep in the same room as me; the goblin slept in a room alone; Ollivander slept alone; and Harry and Ron shared the last spare room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione only stayed for a few weeks, and during their time Remus Lupin stopped in to announce that Tonks had given birth to their son, Teddy Lupin, and that they wanted Harry to be his godfather.

Not long after that, the "Golden Trio" left to continue on their mission, and Shell Cottage became a bit quieter with their absence as we waited for what each day could bring.

 **OoOoOoO**

 **I've gotten a few reviews, so don't hesitate to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Someone asked if Fred would die in the war, you'll find out in the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Final Battle**

I handed the stack of empty dinner plates to Fleur at the sink before grabbing a dishtowel to dry them after she washed them. It had been a quiet couple months, and instead of feeling calm, it was a bit unnerving.

When we were halfway finished with the dishes, the small wireless radio on the counter burst loud static into the quiet kitchen. Fleur and I froze, halfway between her handing me a plate to dry, and Bill entered the room quickly from the living room.

 _"Message to the Order. Lightning has struck at Hogwarts. I repeat. Lightning has struck at Hogwarts."_

The silence in the room was deafening before Bill sucked in a tight breath.

I looked between him and Fleur. "Does that mean what I think it means?" I asked quietly. I wasn't an official member of the Order, like Fred and the others were, but I fought for their cause, same as them, and I was in the loop more than other witches and wizards. And 'lightning' could only mean a few things, most likely having to do with a certain young wizard with a lightning-shaped scar.

Bill nodded tightly. "Yes. Harry's at Hogwarts."

I put the dried dish on the counter. "What's he thinking? Going to Hogwarts, where all those Death Eaters are? Is he insane?"

Bill sighed. "He wouldn't do something so stupid without good reason, I know that much. He must have to do something there. But it's doubtful that he's going to last there very long without someone giving up his whereabouts to the Dark Lord." he looked up at me and Fleur, both of us were waiting with baited breath for him to say what we knew was happening. "I think this is going to be the final battle."

Fleur and I looked at each other, our expressions blank, but our eyes gave away our fear.

"I'm going. You two stay here, I'll be back when it's all over." Bill announced, going to grab his jacket.

"Hell no! I'm not sitting this out!" I shouted at the same time Fleur hurried to her husband, saying, "I am coming with you!"

Bill sighed, looking down at his wife. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"And I cannot allow you to go alone, William." Fleur pleaded. Bill sighed and looked over at me.

"Fred and your family, you're all I've got left." I told him firmly, my voice wavering, "There's no way I'm not going to fight beside him, Bill."

Bill took one look in my eyes, and must've known the argument was pointless, because he sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Alright, grab your wands and lets get going."

Soon, the three of us Apparated to Hogsmeade and went to Hog's Head, where Aberforth Dumbledore met us and showed us to a secret passageway behind an old painting, saying that several members of the Order were already there.

We walked along the tunnel until we could hear the sounds of many young voices talking excitedly among themselves. We stepped into the entrance of the tunnel and looked down into the Room of Requirements. It looked like the students had set it up into a sort of safe house, probably to hide from all the Death Eaters. Several people turned and looked up at them as they entered, some cheering at the sight of more numbers on their side.

Bill jumped down and helped Fleur before offering his hand to help me jump down. The second me feet touched the ground, I heard, "Amber!"

I looked up in time to be swept off my feet and spun in a circle. As soon as we stopped and my feet touched the ground, Fred pulled me into a frantic kiss, his hands behind my head and fingers in my hair. We kept at it for a while and just as I was about to run out of air, someone smacked Fred on the back, lurching us out of our bubble.

"Oi, Freddie! Some of us would like to greet 'er, too, you know!" George shouted as Fred and I separated, Fred throwing a glare at his twin. George smirked at him before grinning at me and yanking me into a tight hug. I laughed and hugged him back just as tightly, since I hadn't seen him since Bill and Fleur's wedding, which was nearly _a year ago!_

"Kids, come over here." Arthur called us, waving us over to where several members of the Order were gathered. They talked about some plans for what they were going to do, and how they were going to enter Hogwarts, and make their presence known and all that, but after a while they were interrupted by someone else stumbling through the tunnel and practically falling out onto the floor below.

As soon as I saw the familiar, trademark 'Weasley' hair and glasses, and felt Fred tense up along with every other Weasley in the room, I grabbed Fred's hand and looked up at him nervously.

When Percy looked up and saw his whole family staring wide-eyed back at him, he froze. The atmosphere became extremely tense as the room fell silent. Fleur and Remus tried to break the tension by talking about Remus' new son, Teddy, but none of the Weasley's seemed to notice.

After a long, tense silence, Percy shouted, "I was a fool! I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a-a-"

"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron." Fred finished dryly. I would've reprimanded him if I hadn't agreed with everything he said. Percy wasn't one of my favorite people, to be honest.

"Yes I was!" Percy agreed.

"Well, you can't say fairer than that." Fred admitted, holding his free hand out to Percy. His older brother sagged in relief, and took Fred's hand. I smiled and released Fred's hand from mine, allowing him and his family to surround Percy and welcome him back.

Part of me was surprised Fred and George were the first to welcome him back, given how angry and betrayed they'd felt with everything he'd said and done to them, but at the same time I wasn't. Fred was very family-oriented, all the Weasley's were, and despite what a prat Percy could be, he was still family, and you couldn't help but miss his presence whenever he wasn't at a family gathering.

After the emotional reunion, just before we were going to leave the Room of Requirements to back Harry up against Snape, since someone had let slip that Harry was in Hogwarts, Fred pulled me slightly off to the side.

"Look, I know we promised we wouldn't move too fast, and I don't want to make any big life decisions about us just because of a war, and the last thing I want to do is to push you into a situation you're not ready for, but do you think that, maybe, after the war and everything, you'd want to move in with me?" Fred asked quickly, hardly taking the time to take a breath. He stared worriedly down at me as I tried to process everything he said in those ten seconds. When I finally registered what he was trying to ask; a small, shy smile appeared on my face.

"Yeah, I'd like that." I answered, nodding slightly. Fred grinned hugely before tilting my chin up with his knuckle and kissing me.

After that, everything went surprisingly fast. It seemed like one minute we were approaching the Great Hall to back Harry up against Snape, and the next we were fighting for our lives. Of course, that's not accurate, since it took at least a couple hours.

After a couple hours of nonstop fighting, I was trying to find Fred, while simultaneously dealing with any Death Eaters I happened upon, and trying to get any younger students I happened across to safety.

I turned a corner into another corridor, and sighed in brief relief when I saw Fred and Percy fighting alongside each other against Pius Thicknesse. I hurried toward them, thinking maybe I could blast Thicknesse from behind. As I was nearing them, Percy said something I didn't hear with a smirk on his face. Whatever it was, Fred looked shocked and delighted about it. He was in the middle of speaking, saying something about a joke, when there was an explosion.

It happened in slow motion. I saw the wall coming down over Fred, and I acted. I raced forward, past Thicknesse and Percy, and slammed my body into Fred's. We flew to the side several feet and landed hard on the ground.

 **(Fred's POV!)**

I coughed as dust settled around me, slowly pushing myself up to my knees. I looked around, trying to figure out what happened. The first thing I saw was the smashed, scattered remains of the corridor's wall on the ground near me. Then I saw the body halfway under some of that wall, with long brown hair and a familiar wand in her hand…

I my gut lurched in shock and fear. "AMBER!" I yelled, rushing over to kneel beside her head, brushing her hair from her face. I caught a glimpse of blood on her cheek and began panicking. I used _Wingardium Leviosa_ to lift the bricks from Amber's body and then gently turned her over onto her back. She had some scratches on her face dribbling blood down her cheeks and head, and she was unconscious.

"Amber. Amber, please wake up." I pleaded, putting one hand to her cheek and checking her pulse with my other hand. I glanced up and saw that Percy was standing nearby, fighting off any other Death Eaters that tried to get near us. Luckily there weren't many in this area. Relief flooded through me when I felt the light flutter of Amber's pulse against my fingers.

I kissed her forehead. "Amber, you've gotta wake up, please." I pleaded again, knowing there was no way I'd be able to focus not knowing if she'd live or slip away when I turned my back.

I heard a small groan and stared down at her closed eyelids. Her head twitched to the side, and her eyelids flickered.

 **(Amber's POV)**

Fred's voice was echoing in my head, and I wanted to open my eyes to see if he was okay. His voice was far away, but as I fought to wake up, I could hear loud noises in the background, probably from the battle still going on around us.

Finally, I fought off the last of the blackness and slowly blinked my eyes open, Fred's familiar face coming into focus. His eyes literally lit up when I looked up at him, a small smile appearing on his face. I gave him a tired smile.

"Hey."

Fred laughed in relief. "You nearly get yourself killed trying to save my life, and you say 'hey'?" he stroked my cheek with his thumb, and I found myself leaning into the touch. Then the relief darkened a bit as his smile turned into a frown. "What were you thinking, Amber? You could've died."

"I wasn't really thinking." I admitted quietly, wincing at a sharp pain in my legs. "I just knew I couldn't let you die."

"So you thought you'd get yourself killed instead?" Fred frowned at me, looking concerned when he saw me wince.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself, Fred, just save you." I said quietly. "Even if I did die, I'd willingly do it just to make sure you lived."

"What?" Fred asked in confusion, scooting closer to me and taking one of my hands in his gently, stroking my knuckles with his thumb.

I swallowed, trying to stay focused, but my head was throbbing. "Think about it, Fred. You have so much more to live for than me. No, just listen," I spoke when he tried to interrupt me, "My family is gone, Fred. You're the only one who'd be severely hurt if I died. But if you died…you're all I've got left, Fred. I don't know what I'd do without you, you've done so much for me. And think about your family, and what they'd do without you. Your parents, your brothers, Ginny,…George." Fred winced, knowing his twin would be completely lost without him. "They need you, Fred."

Fred swallowed thickly, holding my hand tightly. "But I need you." he whispered, looking down at me with a fearful expression. I smiled up at him.

"I'm not going anywhere, Fred. I'm just a little sore right now. I'll be fine."

"But you could've been killed, Amber. You're worth so much more than this. You have so much more reason to live than me. I can't lose you."

"And I can't lose you, either, Fred. And I'm not going to get into who has more of a reason to live, because I'm not going to fight with you, not right now, like this." I gestured around us vaguely. "Besides, I'm not worth more than this, I'm not above saving the people I love when it's necessary, no one should be above that." Fred nodded reluctantly, knowing I was right, "But you know something?"

"What?" Fred asked quietly, looking drained and sad.

"I am worth something." Fred looked down at me, mildly confused, "I didn't use to believe that. I used to believe all the bad things people said about me. I used to believe that I wasn't worthy of anything good, and I used to tear myself down. Until you came along." the corner of Fred's lips twitched up as I continued, "You refused to let me tear myself down, argued the opposite of everything I thought I was, and finally you made me believe that I am worth something. No matter what anyone says or thinks about me, all that matters is that I'm worth something, to you."

Fred smiled, leaning down to kiss my forehead, pulling back enough to rest his forehead against mine as he looked down at me. "You're worth everything to me."

"And you to me." I whispered back, fighting to stay awake.

Voldemort chose that moment to call a stop to the fight, telling Harry Potter to meet him in the Dark Forest within a certain time span, or else he'd kill everyone.

Fred had looked up during Voldemort's speech, but looked back down at me afterwards, stroking my cheek again with his thumb. The soothing feeling was slowly putting me to sleep.

"Go ahead and rest, Love." Fred whispered, kissing my other cheek. And I slowly allowed the darkness to suck me under.

~*0*~

A low humming started pulling me out of the calm darkness, gradually growing louder and clearer to the point I could make out words and, eventually individual voices.

"…need to calm down. Madame Pomfrey said she'd wake up no later than tomorrow, it's fine."

"How can I calm down, George? She could've died yesterday. For me! And now she won't wake up."

"It's only been a day, Freddie. She'll be fine."

Slowly, my other senses began to come back into focus. First, I realized that there was a warm weight in one of my hands, probably another hand. Then, the musty smell I always associated with the Hogwarts walls reached my nose, as well as some bitter smells that suggested some different potions. My eyes started twitching, wanting to see where I was and what was going on. And to see Fred.

The conversation stopped as I continued to struggle to open my eyes.

"Amber?" a quiet, familiar voice spoke as the hand tightened its grip on mine.

I parted my lips as my eyes finally managed to crack open. I blinked several times until, finally, I managed to completely open my eyes.

Looking up, I saw two familiar, battered yet beaming redheads looking down on me from either side of the bed I was on. Seeing them, I smiled tiredly.

"Hi." I whispered, trying to fight back the sleepy fog as I blinked my eyes.

"Hey, Ber." Fred whispered back, lifting my hand that he was holding to kiss the back of it, before holding my hand between both of his. "How're you feeling?"

I yawned, making both of them chuckle. "Tired." I answered honestly.

"No pain?" he asked worriedly.

I looked down my body, but I was covered by a warm quilt. I wiggled my feet and gasped in pain.

I gritted my teeth as I answered, "Um, one of my legs hurts."

Fred nodded grimly. "Yeah. Madame Pomfrey healed your head from when you gashed it in the fight, but you also broke your leg-"

"Which can happen when a wall falls on you." George cut in.

Fred smirked at his brother before turning back to me, "And she said it should be healed in a couple weeks, it was just a small fracture."

I nodded. "Okay, good." I looked around the room and almost didn't recognize the Great Hall. The four tables for the different houses were gone. Instead, all along one side of the Hall were several hospital beds, like in the Hospital Wing, each with someone either unconscious, lying down, or sitting up; many of them surrounded by family and friends. On the other side of the Hall were several long shapes covered in white sheets, no doubt the bodies that hadn't yet been claimed.

Fred noticed my looking and spoke, "Everyone figured that since we were gathering our dead and injured in here anyway, we'd just bring in a bunch beds. It's much bigger than the Hospital Wing, which Madame Pomfrey needed given how many were hurt."

"So, it's over?" I checked, already figuring we wouldn't all be here, talking so calmly, if Voldemort had won.

Fred grinned, bringing one hand up to stroke my hair back from my face. "Yeah, it's over. Harry won, but I'll fill you in later, when you're feeling better, and when we're outta here. Okay?" I nodded with a small smile.

George cleared his throat. "Fred, Madame Pomfrey wanted you to go get her when Amber woke up. I'll stay with Amber."

Fred looked curiously over at his twin for a moment before nodding. He smiled at me once before he stood up and walked across the Hall. I watched him walk away for a moment before turning to George expectantly, figuring he wanted to talk to me alone.

George smiled at me. "Amber…I'm not really into the whole heart-to-heart junk, but…Fred told us what you did."

I sighed, "I know, I'm stupid, Fred already lectured me about it."

George smirked. "Well, yeah, that too, I suppose. But I was more referring to, well, you saved Fred's life." George said quietly. I nodded. "It's just…when he told us that, and Percy backed him up, cause he saw it, too, I just…I thought about what would've happened if you hadn't done that. If Fred had…" George broke off to take a deep breath. I knew he was struggling, so I grabbed his hand and held it tightly. He squeezed it back in thanks. "Fred's been my other half since before we were born, he's more than my brother or best friend. It's always been 'Fred and George', or 'Gred and Forge'," I smiled, "and I can't picture it any other way. So, what I'm trying to say here, is thank you. Thank you _so_ much for saving my brother." I smiled, feeling tears prick my eyes at how emotional George looked. Then, blinking his own tears back, George put on a playful smirk, "Oh, and a heads up, pretty much everyone's going to be either giving you similar speeches, big hugs, or, like Mum, they're probably going to cry all over you."

I laughed, wiping away the stray tears that had fallen down my cheeks. "Thanks for the heads up." I sobered a bit, but still smiled up at him, "And you don't have to thank me, George. I love Fred, more than anyone I've ever known. He's helped me through so much, and there was no way I was going to stand there and watch him die."

George's smile softened, his hand still holding mine as he leaned an elbow on the side of my bed. "I'm glad he's got someone like you to love him, Amber."

I simply smiled back, because I could see Fred coming back with Madame Pomfrey.

After Madame Pomfrey looked me over and gave me a potion for the pain, George left to go check on some of the others, leaving me and Fred alone.

"So, he got emotional with you, huh?" Fred asked with a small smile.

"How could you tell?" I asked with a small smile.

Fred leaned forward and brushed his knuckle down my cheek. "Tearstains. That, and I know my twin."

 **OoOoOoO**

 **Well, there you go, Fred didn't die! I understand why J.K. had to kill him, but he's my favorite character and I didn't want him to die, so HE LIVES!**

 **There's going to be one last part, more of a long epilogue, so everyone let me know what you thought of this chapter.**


	8. Epilogue

I was released about a week after I woke up, and I stayed at the Burrow the duration of my recovery, along with most of the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry. Bill and Fleur stayed at their own home in Shell Cottage, though they visited almost daily and brought my things to the Burrow. Charlie had arrived near the end of the battle, and so he was staying for a while to help his family and with any repairs and clean-up that needed to be done at Hogwarts. Percy also stayed at the Burrow for a while, making up for lost time with his family.

After about a month, though, Fred, George, and I moved to the flat above WWW and began getting the shop ready to be reopened, as well as helping all the other shops in Diagon Alley reopen. I contacted my boss at The Quibbler, hoping maybe I could get my job there back if I explained the situation. However, much explanation wasn't needed. They were aware of my blood status, as well as the death of my parents, and pretty much put two and two together. So, they welcomed me back and I started where I left off, while also helping the twins get their shop going.

George began dating Angelina Johnson near the end of the year, having gotten back into contact with her in the few days she was being treated after the final battle. Then, about halfway through the next year, 1999, George moved out of the flat and into Angelina's small apartment.

~*0*~

Lightning lit up the dark sky in all the flat's windows in Diagon Alley one summer night. Rain was pouring down in sheets as thunder nearly shook the building. Fred and George had closed the shop an hour early due to a lack of customers and we were having a night at home. It was still a bit weird having the flat to ourselves, and Fred missed having his brother around, since it was the first time they'd ever lived under different roofs, but it was sometimes nice when it was just the two of us. Plus, we saw George every day in the shop downstairs, not to mention Molly insisted on having huge family lunches at the Burrow every Sunday.

Fred and I were both sitting on the couch with one of the twins' products, a Reusable Hangman, sitting on the coffee table in front of us. Fred was smirking at me while I narrowed my eyes at the contraption, trying to think up some letters. Despite my hatred of Umbridge, I didn't really want the little figurine of her to hang, because that meant I lost. So far I had:

M_RR_ M_

I growled under my breath, trying to think of another letter that I hadn't guessed.

"I don't know…'A'?" I asked hopefully. Fred smirked as an 'A' appeared between the 'M' and 'R'. I sighed in relief at getting one more letter down. I still had no idea how Fred got my word 'Hippogriff' without the 'I's, 'P's, and 'F's. I racked my brain for any 2 letter words I could think of that started with an 'M', while Fred laughed at my faces.

"'E'?" I asked, looking over at him as he took a sip of his bottle of Butter beer. He smirked at me, a triumphant gleam entering his eyes, causing me to look back at the toy. An 'E' appeared on the end, making the last word 'ME'.

I muttered the phrase under my breath a few times, trying to figure out what the phrase could possibly be. I was down to my last guess. The pink toad would swing if I guessed this last letter wrong.

I groaned, rubbing my eyes with my palms in frustration. "I hate this game!" I grumbled.

Fred laughed at me, sliding his hand up and down my back as he scooted closer to me. "Relax, Love. Need a clue?"

I peaked up at him from between my fingers. "If you're offering?" I urged quietly, making his smirk grow even more. He leaned down until his lips were at my earlobe.

"It's a vowel." he whispered before pulling away.

I scrunched up my face, confused. Of course, I knew what vowels were, I'd learned all of them before I was even in primary school. I was confused because I was pretty certain I'd used all the vowels. I just used 'A' and 'E', 'O' was one of the first letters I'd picked, and that didn't work out, a little while ago I'd picked 'I', and that wasn't in there. I hadn't picked 'U', but that didn't seem right. 'Marru Me'? That wasn't a word. But there weren't any other vowels. Except-

"'Y!'" I shouted, staring wide-eyed and on the edge of my seat as the 'Y' appeared in the gap. I didn't have time to think about it before hand, I just shouted it, hoping it was right. But as I read the phrase, my brain stopped working. It wouldn't let me fully take in what the phrase was saying.

 _Marry Me_

I heard a throat clearing and turned my head. Fred was no longer sitting on the couch next to me. He was down on one knee, holding a small black box in his hands, a small, amused smile on his face as he looked up at me. I looked back and forth between the Hangman and my boyfriend, finally realizing what was happening.

"So, since you're having a bit of an issue understanding what's written in front of you, I'll read it out loud. Amber Carter, will you marry me?" Fred asked teasingly.

A shy smile slid onto my face and I nodded mutely. Fred leaned closer, his head tilted toward me with a smirk on his face.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you there?" he joked.

I laughed, shaking my head in amusement. "Yes, I'll marry you, you prat."

"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say to your fiancé." he retorted, sitting back on the couch next to me, taking my hand and slipping on my finger a small, simple silver ring with a small diamond in the center. I felt tears sting my eyes as Fred lifted my hand to his lips, kissing my ring finger before smiling at me.

"Fred, it's perfect." I whispered, looking from the ring up to him.

"Simple, beautiful, and it still caught my eye, just like you." he smiled, making me blush. "Amber Weasley. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

I grinned hugely, leaning up and kissing him.

~*0*~

We got married just under a year later, in late June of 2000. It was a small wedding behind the Burrow with only family and very close friends, meaning with the Weasley clan, the guests totaled up to about 60. I wore a simple white sundress and Fred wore a dress shirt and slacks. My Maid of Honor was Ginny, and my bridesmaids were Hermione and Fleur, since we'd all become extremely close during and after the war. Fred's Best Man was obviously George, and his groomsmen were his friend Lee Jordan and Bill. Since my parents weren't alive to celebrate this special day with me Molly and Arthur really stepped up. Molly helped me get ready and prepare, as well as cooking all the food for the reception, and I asked Arthur to walk me down the isle, since he'd become a second father to me.

The youngest guest was the newest member of the Weasley clan, Victoire Weasley, Bill and Fleur's one month old daughter, who was born on the anniversary of the final battle of the war, hence her name.

George and Angelina's wedding was a few months later. And Percy brought a date, a woman named Audrey, to both weddings and a few family events. They announced their engagement as a Sunday lunch near the end of the year and had their wedding in the fall of 2001.

~*0*~

 **(Fred's POV)**

I raked my hands anxiously through my hair for the twentieth time, my legs bouncing as I glanced over toward the doorway into the birth ward for the hundredth time. I was sitting in the waiting room of St. Mungo's Hospital, surrounded by some of my family. It was a chilly afternoon in early autumn of 2008, so a good portion of my family were still arriving, or couldn't make it due to work or other complications.

So far it was just me, my mum, Fleur and their kids: eight-year-old Victoire, four year old Dominique, and their one year old son Louis; as well as Ron, and Harry with his and Ginny's kids: James, who was four, and Albus, who was two.

My dad couldn't make it because he was at work, though we were keeping him posted. It was the same for Bill and Percy. Charlie was back in Romania and didn't come home to visit often, though he promised to visit for Christmas because of all the new babies being born into the family this year. Percy's wife Audrey was at home with their four year old daughter Molly, and she would've come if she wasn't heavily pregnant with their next child. Hermione also would've come if she wasn't at home with her and Ron's newborn daughter Rose, as well as Ginny and Harry's four month old daughter Lily, who she was babysitting because Ginny was currently working here at St. Mungo's, where my wife was currently giving birth.

I _would_ be back there with her, but last time that happened I threw up. I'm sorry, it just wasn't something my already-nervous stomach could handle.

The sound of flames coming from the Floo entrance nearby didn't reach my ears, however the little kid's voice that came seconds later did.

"Daddy!"

I looked up and saw my twin and his wife, each carrying a five year old, red-haired boy. The one George was carrying was wiggling to be let down, and as soon as George lowered his feet to the tile floor, the little tyke bolted down the hall, through the waiting room, and leapt into my lap, making me laugh and relax for a moment.

I held my son in my lap and studied him as he started rambling about how much fun he had in school and then how his Aunt Angelina took him and his cousin Gideon out to ice cream.

Fabian George Weasley could easily be a mini-me, except he had his mother's eyes and nose and less freckles than me.

After a few moments of rambling, Fabian turned his attention to his cousin, who had walked up to talk to him while my twin and his wife sat by me.

Fabe and George's son, Gideon Fredrick Weasley, could very nearly pass as twins themselves, even though they weren't identical. They reminded all of us of how me and George were, even though they were cousins. They were only a few months apart in age, and George and I came up with matching their names by switching our middle names, Fabian and Gideon, with our first names. Gideon had much darker eyes, which he got from Ang, and his hair was a darker shade of red than Fabian, whose hair was more of an orange.

My mom called Fabe and Gid over to tell her how their day had been so far, leaving me to anxiously watch the door again. I felt an elbow nudge mine and I turned to my twin.

"Nervous?" he guessed with a gentle smirk.

I smiled a bit. "A little."

"She'll be fine, Fred." Angelina reassured me from on the other side of George. "She's done it before."

I nodded, knowing she was right, before I nodded to her stomach. "How's the little one doing?" I asked curiously, gesturing to the little bump that you wouldn't notice if you weren't looking.

She smiled warmly, placing her hand on her tummy. "Good. Though, I'm starting to get nauseous at the smell of eggs and cleaning supplies. So I'm fast approaching my least favorite part of the process." she grimaced slightly, making me chuckle.

"Fred?" I immediately snapped my head to attention at the sound of my sister's voice, my whole body growing tense. She waved me over and I stood on shaky legs, following her down the hall until we were out of ear shot, where she turned to me.

"Did something happen?" I asked frantically.

Ginny smiled reassuringly. "No, Fred. Everything's going fine, but there's something I needed to ask you…"

"Yeah?" I urged when she stopped.

A smile slid over her lips. "Did you and Amber, by any chance, have more than one name picked out?"

I looked down at her in confusion, not understanding the point in that question. Why would it matter? But something about the tone she used, as well as that grin and the look in her eyes, told me I was missing something.

Then, I got it.

My mouth fell open, slowly forming into a grin. "You're kidding me." I breathed, not really believing it. "Twins?"

She nodded. "Yep. Congratulations, big brother. You're about to have twins. The first one's out, he's just being washed up right now, and the second one should be out soon, since it's much smaller."

"Oh my god, thank you Gin." I breathed, pulling my sister into a tight hug. I walked back to the waiting room in a sort of daze.

"Daddy, where's Mommy?" Fabian asked, running up to me and holding his arms up, silently asking to be picked up. I scooped him up and placed him on my hip like usual.

"Well, you remember how we told you you'd be having a new baby brother or sister?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. Is that where she is? Is she going to get the baby from the owl?" everyone but George and Angelina looked confused, while I grinned. Amber and I had come up with the story that babies got delivered by owls, since when Amber was little her parents told her a stork delivered babies.

"Yeah, she is. But, apparently the owl is going to be a little bit longer, because he's got an extra bundle to carry." I explained, hoping at least someone in the waiting room would understand what I was saying. I smirked when I heard mom gasp, and looked over to see several people either with excited grins or their jaws hanging open. Ron seemed to be the last person to get it, but then Harry whispered something in his ear and then his mouth fell open with everyone else.

Fabian, however, had his face screwed up as he tried to figure out what I was saying.

"Fabe, you remember how I explained to you that me and your Uncle George are twins, and that we have the same birthday?" I asked, to which my son nodded. "Well, this is the same thing. We're going to have two babies on the same day, just like me and George. They're going to be twins."

"So, am I going to get two brothers?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, I'm not sure. Sometimes twins can be a boy and a girl. Aunt Ginny just told me that she found out one of them is a boy, but we're not sure about the other one, yet."

"Okay." Fabian nodded once before squirming to be let down. I placed his feet on the floor and he hurried over to play with James, Dominique, and Gideon while I returned to my seat next to my twin. My mum was holding Louis on her lap and Harry was holding Albus in his.

"Owls? Seriously?" Ron asked with a smirk from his seat next to me.

"Would you prefer we told him babies come from their mother's-"

"Fred!" my mom hissed, cutting off the word I was going to say.

"I was going to say 'tummy'!" I defended quietly, trying not to smirk. George snorted to cover his laughter on my other side.

"Sure you were, Gred." he muttered quietly.

After another ten minutes, Ginny called me into the room. Fabian wanted to come with me, but I told him I'd come back to get him in a few minutes. I wanted to see how my wife was without having to watch what I say and how I say it in front of my son. He wouldn't completely understand why his mommy was so tired.

As I expected, Amber's thick, brown hair was frazzled and sweat was making her face glisten, strands of hair sticking to her forehead and cheeks, which were flushed red. She grinned tiredly when she saw me and I hurriedly approached her bedside, taking one of her hands in mine and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Twins." she muttered, her tired smile still in place.

"Yeah." I laughed quietly, brushing some of her wet hair behind her ear. "How're ya feeling?"

"Tired." she huffed, making me smile, "And a little sore. Where's Fabe?"

"Out in the waiting room with the others. I wanted to check on you myself before I brought him in."

"Good idea." she mumbled before a nurse came up to us holding a bundle wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Would you like to hold your son?" the nurse asked Amber, who nodded. I helped her sit up against the back of the bed, and the nurse gently placed our baby son in her arms. I turned around to sit facing the same direction as my wife, looking down at the baby we had created.

He had his tongue sticking out a bit and looked asleep. He had the faintest smattering of orange hair on his head. His cheeks were chubby, like any baby, and his skin had a red tint to it, though I remember Fabian was the same color when he was born, and he turned out with fair skin, like me. He also had a barely-visible sprinkling of freckles across his cheeks. I wanted so desperately to know what color my new son's eyes were, but they were firmly closed.

"He's smaller than Fabe was." Amber noted, smiling fondly down at him.

"Well, he had to share his space." I pointed out just as another nurse approached, holding a small bundle in a pink blanket.

"Would you like to hold your daughter?" the nurse asked me with a kind smile. I glanced down at Amber, who nodded reassuringly. I swallowed, looking down at the tiny, fragile bundle in the nurse's arms. Sure, I'd held babies before, obviously. But they'd all been boys. I didn't normally hold any of my nieces and nephews when they were babies, apart from Gideon, because all the girls fussed over them and hogged them, not that I minded. I just didn't have any chances to hold any baby girls. And this was _my_ baby girl.

Slowly, I nodded, and the nurse gently placed the baby girl into my arms. The first thing I noticed was that she was just a bit smaller than her twin, who was already smaller than Fabian when he was born. So she was much smaller than I was used to holding. The second thing I noticed was that, unlike her twin, she was wide awake. And staring up at me.

She had sharp, green eyes, just like her mother, and she had about the same amount of hair as her brother, though it was a darker shade, but still Weasley-red. She had the same nose as her twin, her eyes looked a bit bigger, though that might have been the baby-eye effect she had on me, and she already had dimples on her chubby cheeks.

I was mesmerized as I slowly let go with one hand and ran my finger along her soft cheek. As I pulled away, her fist grabbed hold of my finger, her tiny hand not even half the size of my finger.

I was hooked.

 **(Amber's POV)**

Watching my husband with our newborn daughter was something out of fairytales, or a sappy romance novel. It was a perfect moment, and I wished I had my camera to capture it forever. He had a small, loving smile spread over his lips, his brown eyes glistening with tears that he would never let anyone see fall, and he was letting our baby daughter hold his finger. Then he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.

"Any ideas for names?" Fred asked, finally taking his attention from the baby he was holding.

"Well,…I had an idea for a girl name…and I would like to honor both my parents…" Fred nodded, we had already talked about having my parents' names for middle names.

"What were you thinking for a girl?" Fred asked, sitting on the edge of my bed, facing me.

I was silent, looking down at the baby girl in my husband's arms before I answered, "Winifred Bridget Weasley."

Fred looked down at our daughter contemplatively, bouncing her just slightly. "Winifred…Winnie." he tested with a grin, making me smile. "Winnie Weasley. I like it." he grinned down at me before looking down at our son thoughtfully.

"Can you think of a boy name?" I asked curiously, looking down at my son, too.

"Well,…most of the family are already naming kids after people, so I kinda want to get away from that, and he'll already have your dad's name for a middle name. But…I always liked the name Wyatt." Fred answered quietly.

I looked down at my son, examining him. "Wyatt." I tested quietly. "Wyatt Murphy Weasley." I smiled when his eyes slowly blinked open, the same brown eyes of his father's looking up at me. "Hi Wyatt." I whispered to him, stroking my thumb down his cheek.

"Winnie and Wyatt. I like it." Fred whispered, leaning over to kiss my sweaty hair. He turned to the nurse still in the room and told her the names, so she could record them for the birth certificates, and then asked if they could bring some of our family in. The nurse could only allow a few visitors at a time, so Fred and I agreed that Fabian, George, and Molly would be the first group.

Fabian burst into the room a few moments later, followed quickly by George and then Molly. Fabian rushed over and was about to bounce into the bed when George scooped him up.

"You gotta be careful, Bud. Mommy and Daddy have some delicate cargo there." George told him before placing Fabe gently on the bed by my feet. Molly came around to the opposite side of the bed from Fred so she could see the baby I was holding.

Fabe crawled up the bed until he was kneeling near my waist between me and his father, looking between the bundles we were holding.

"Are they the babies?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, they are." Fred answered, tilting Winnie just enough that Fabe could see her, and Winnie's bright green eyes fell on him. He stared back at her with wide eyes of his own.

"Is it a boy?" he asked, looking up at his father. Fred smiled.

"No. This one is your new little sister, Winnie." he nodded to the baby I was holding, "And that's your new little brother Wyatt." I lifted one arm slightly so Fabe could see his new little brother.

He looked back and forth between them. "Will I be able to play with them?" he asked curiously.

Fred smiled. "Maybe not for a while. They're really little right now, so they won't be able to do much. But when they're older, yes you can play with them."

"Okay." he smiled before scooting over to look at the baby in my arms. George took that moment to stand by his twin, looking down at the little girl in his arms.

"She's cute. Probably 'cause she takes after her mum." George smirked. I tried not to smile while Fred stuck his tongue out at his twin.

"Yeah, well Wyatt's going to be a handsome little devil, just like me." Fred countered.

George smirked, but didn't reply, simply looking down at his new niece instead.

"Geeze. You, Fredrick Weasley, have a daughter. Think she's going to be a daddy's girl?"

"Oh yeah, obviously." Fred grinned.

"Yep, she'll have you wrapped around her finger. You'll probably cry the first time she laughs." I teased him as I handed Wyatt over to Molly to hold, since I was getting a little tired.

"If I do, it'll be because it'll be the most amazing sound in the world." Fred boasted.

George smirked and I just knew he was going to say something bad. "I thought you always said that Amber makes the most amazing sounds when you two-"

"George Fabian Weasley!" Molly hissed while my face went up in flames. After all these years, you'd think I'd be used to his little perverted sex jokes, but _noooo_.

I covered up my embarrassment by holding my hands out to my husband. "Can I hold my daughter for a few minutes before I'm too tired?"

Fred smiled at me before gently placing our little girl on my chest, right over my heart. I placed both my hands gently on her tiny back, taking up most of her body, and watched with a smile as she tucked her tiny fist into her mouth and closed her eyes. Fred kissed the top of my head and put his arm around my shoulder.

"I love you, Amber Weasley. Thank you for giving me such beautiful children." he whispered in my ear so just the two of us could hear.

"I love you, too." I smiled back.

 **THE END**

 **OoOoOoO**

 **And there's the ending! I hope everyone liked my story, and don't be afraid to leave a review to let me know what you thought of the whole thing! And if anyone would like to mention what their favorite part was or what they liked about the story, that would really make my day!**


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